When did the jacarandas bloom in your neighborhood? As I was camped out in a series of short-term rentals in Woodland Hills, Santa Monica and Venice (in that order) I had the good luck to follow the jacarandas.

Yesterday, after weeks and weeks of chilly weather, the sweet unfolding arrived here in Malibu. This is the tree up at the barn, the dividing line, it seemed, between inland sun and coastal gloom.