Udumbara Flowers and Summer Vacation

These are lacewing eggs, not flowers.

The Udumbara flower (ficus racemosa) is a small flower of the Cluster Fig. In Buddhism, it is a metaphor for that which is supernaturally rare. It is believed to blossom only once every 3,000 years, to herald the appearance of a Tathagata. In the summer of 2007, it began blossoming at various places in the world, most notably Taiwan and California.

These are ficus racemosa flowers

The California sighting, in the Bay Area on August 8, 2007, was of great interest to my daughter and me. As it happened, we were there -- our first trip to the Bay Area together, for her first empowerment -- and we thought, "My, how auspicious!"

So, summer is here again, today is the solstice, and in keeping with tradition, I begin my summer vacation. Accordingly, posts here may become erratic (or unusual), as I enjoy wandering around this wonderful world.

In that circumstance whether there is neither the auspicious nor the inauspicious, let this be spontaneously auspicious without further point of reference.

I am always praying for your happiness.

UPDATED: See here for an unconfirmed 2010 report of ficus racemosa blooming beneath a washing machine (!) in China:
http://tibetanaltar.blogspot.com/2010/03/udumbara-blossoms-in-china.html