It’s that time of year when some of my favorite plants are in bloom – the cherry blossom trees, of course, but many others equally beautiful. My favorite at the moment is clove currant, a yellow-blooming cousin of the showy light and dark pink varieties that hummingbirds love.
I have several of the pink ones in my yard, but they have no scent. The clove currant smell is exquisitely spicy-sweet and wonderfully pervasive. I first noticed it last year while out weeding one morning – caught a whiff on the breeze and tracked it down three houses to my neighbor’s yard. As I bent over and breathed in, I knew I had to find one and plant it, and now I have four.
Bulbs of all kinds, but especially tulips, put me in my happy place. They are blooming now – an absolute riot of colors – along with daffodils, grape hyacinths, and multi-colored hellebores. Tiny white snowdrops and dark purple, gold, and white crocuses made their appearance earlier.
On my walks, I’m always curious to see what people put out on the curb for others to take. I also like to check out the little free libraries and leave copies of my favorite books for others to read. Most contain books, but some share other items.
On the Capitol side is the Free Little Art Gallery, which houses artwork and, below it, supplies. My granddaughter and I found it while riding our bikes last weekend. A note on it says, make something you want to share, leave it for someone else to take home, and trade for something you’d like. So, we sped home to create art, then brought it back to share and trade.
On the Frog Pond-side of Capitol Way is the Little Free Seed Library, a welcome stop for experienced or budding gardeners. I donated a bag of crocosmia seeds, tall stalks with bright red flowers – another hummingbird favorite.
When the sun makes a rare appearance between rain showers, I love to see everyone enticed from their homes to enjoy it. Each day, I see more activity in the neighborhood – gardeners gardening, kids running skipping playing, sidewalk chalk art and painted rocks on display, bikers coasting along the streets to downtown, and walkers of all ages leisurely making their way along the sidewalks. All of these combine to make the South Capitol neighborhood a desirable place to live.
Less pleasant and desirable, need I say, are the frequent vehicles speeding up and down Capitol Way, creating noise and safety issues. Your neighborhood association board has been focusing on this problem, and we invited Olympia Mayor Dontae Payne to our March board meeting to share our concerns and possible solutions. This discussion was captured in our March meeting minutes.
The mayor listened thoughtfully to what we had to say, then suggested we and other neighborhood residents attend city council meetings to voice our concerns and possible solutions during the public comment period.
Our Traffic Committee members are working on a consistent message, and we would appreciate as many of you as possible showing up to support us in this effort. We are shooting first for the May 7th city council meeting, and most likely several more meetings after it. More information on this to come soon.
South Capitol Neighborhood Association 