After the rain

Rainy days are often seen by us as troublesome days: soaked trousers, shirt sticking to one's arms and back, damp socks, messy hair, steamy spectacle lenses, dodging the relentless pokes of apparently "eye-less" metallic tips of old ladies' umbrella folds on the busy pavements, slippery steps or floors, puddles on the uneven pavement or road surfaces, splashes by the shower of dirty water from cars, vans, lorries, buses speeding by, interminable queues before taxi stands, traffic bottlenecks, anxious glances at each incoming guest at restaurants whilst waiting for the late arrival of one's friends etc. But not so for plants and flowers. They revel in it. It's their chance to wash away the dust and dirt quietly accumulating upon their leaves, their petals, their sepals and their branches. It's  their shower time. How they love it ! It's also their time to gobble up all the water they need to grow, to develop, to bloom. In the process, they may have to bob their heads up and down, they may shake, they may tremble and bend but always, they will rise again, cleansed, refreshed, resplendent. I know. I went to Kadoorie Farm again.




Raindrops on a half opened white flower.

How translucent is this spider lily (蜘蛛蘭) !

These petals look lovely after the rain.

The paths of the Kadoorie farm were lined with these adaptive lilies called white zephyr lilies (.蔥蓮)

Dancers in the wind

Little men welcoming the rain with open arms.

Another one doing the same.

Little flowers stretching their wings after the rain.

Buds breaking out from their protective sheath.

Little flowers taking advantage of the rain to open out.

Raindrops on the dragon-boat flower.

I went to the Eco-garden again and saw this flower of the 絲瓜, fully open.

And found this little daisy growing amongst the grass, preparing to open out.

And a little way off, this really tiny yellow flower growing on the ground

And these little flowers right at the entrance to welcome those who are not afraid of the rain.

And also these I don't know what little buds.

And these mini-size lotus like leaves

Whenever I go, I found these lovely blue and white buds and flowers. They're called "anti-febrile dichroa" ( 白常山) What a name ! They are part of the family of 繡球花.

As well as these 繡球花.

I finally arrived at the top of the hill and could look into the distance with the whole of the Un Long Plain below my feet.

The messed up hair of this ball of red fibres.

I don't know what these are. I suppose they grow in semi desert area because its waxy and fleshy leaves look well equipped to retain water.

How round, how crystal clear are these drops.

And so are these! It's not for no reason that water is said to be the mother of life!