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Originally uploaded by ellarien.
There are plenty of signs of spring around the campus: golden puffballs of sweet acacia blossom; orange desert mallow; a creamy froth of bloom on the crucifixion thorn; pansies and petunias in abundance; red tassels on the bottle-brush trees and buds on the citrus. Today, though, I found something that reminded me of my fickle native northern spring, and the annual triumph of hope over experience in the purple and gold and white of the flowers that grow from bulbs. There they were, huddled in the shade against a north-facing wall; a row of nervous-looking narcissus and a couple of delicate lavender-shaded irises.