This is my favorite tree. Okay. One of my favorite trees. It’s name? Redbud.

Red? It’s never red. Or my idea of red. It’s not red in the bud, it’s not red when it blooms. And I love it anyway. I love my redbud.

The tulips I put in last fall, they are full of color now too. And I’m recalling the colors I was imagining as I stuck the brown bulbs in the dark earth.  Now that they are up – Hurray!- the yellows look yellow. The pinks – yes, pink. But the reds: are they red? Or rather, are they red enough?

Well… to me, not quite. They are not knock down vibrant red. Not stop me in my tracks red.

When I look for red, I want show stopper red.

I love my redbud tree. But say “red”, I want red. RED.