Tapping the memory vault: crepe myrtles in summer bloom in Daydreaming on the Porch

There are a lot of things New Orleans and Charleston have in common:  both are flat and at or near, or even below sea level, in the case of New Orleans.   Both have a hot, subtropical climate in summer; live oak trees line many of the streets; and finally, speaking of trees, both have an abundance of flowering crepe myrtles whose colorful blooms light up many a streetscape, parkway and boulevard in both cities.  

I have so many rich associations of this tree while growing up in New Orleans, but it's been 20 years now since I have been back.   Way too long, and I have grown increasingly nostalgic for a trip back in time to the place where I spent my first 21 years.   Since I can't seem to there there now in physical reality, I can go back in the memory vault of time whenever I get out for a walk in the Charleston historic district and see not only great live oaks with Spanish moss, but also the summer iconic tree, the crepe myrtle.  

We have five huge crepe myrtles with white blossoms at the top in our garden in Charleston, and they provide such glorious shade.   One of the aspects of crepe myrtle I love most is the intensity of the color, especially the red flowers.  It's startling sometimes on a hot summer afternoon to see these blazing red blooms covering a tree.  And, I'm invariably carried back in memory to my hometown and childhood.  I have been fortunate to live in two fabled old Southern cities, and the crepe myrtle creates a  very strong and enduring bond between those two places of my heart.