Walking Through the Rain to Go Swimming

 

When the city's gardeners change the flowers in the giant concrete urns from the waxy red blooms to giant heads of purple cabbage, I know that winter is soon to follow. Sometimes they're pretty, especially when the morning sun shines through the leaves. That's when they make art out of the winter's gray cold.

These little guys have, so far, survived the first round of cabbagification of the garden beds. The lovely flowers seem so delicate, a contrast to the robust green hydrangeas planted behind them. As the season wanes, the hydrangeas fade to gold and brown, while the little purple flowers soldier on