Clouds, But No Rain

I've noticed that the Royal Poinciana trees are blooming all over the island now. This tree is native of Madagascar and is said to be one of the most beautiful flowering trees in the world. It is sometimes called by other names, such as Flamboyant Tree, Flame Tree, Red Flame Tree and Mohur Tree. It does well here because is is tolerant of some salt drift and also grows well in the sandy soil, and has no pests. It's bright red-orange blooms usually begin in May and last until July. It has delicate leaflets and the blooms practically cover the tree. They grow to about 40 feet tall and 60 feet wide, with the trunks getting as large as 50 inches or more. Long, dark seed pods hang on the trees all winter and then fall on the ground. If you are on the island during this time, you won't miss seeing the bright blooms.

It was a nice day, in the mid 80's with a pleasant breeze. By evening some clouds started coming this way. That made me think there would be a pretty sunset, so just before 8:00, I headed over to the first causeway island to check it out. I was right about the sunset. But, I was most interested in watching the clouds. It looked like they were moving in two different directions. Either that, or my eyes were playing tricks on me. It looked like they were coming toward Sanibel, but we didn't get a drop of rain, at least not where I was at. You could see the rain coming down, further away. Just as the sun got near the horizon, the wind got stronger and the lightning was closer. As soon as the sun disappeared, I hurried away. But the rain didn't follow. :-( Someone later said that they had a lot of rain over at Cape Coral. I guess we'll just hope that some of those rain clouds make their way over here tomorrow.