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This smallish evergreen vine, also known as the Happy Wanderer, is in bloom around town, always a surprising sight for February. It’s a tough little number in the pea family from eastern Australia that lays low all year, unnoticed, in hard-scrabble conditions in chain-link-fenced yards, then bursts into improbably purple bloom late winter. I feel sadistically compelled to share a musical association that comes to mind when this cheerful vine is in bloom, a tune I sang with earnest enthusiasm in grade school called, what else, the Happy Wanderer<\/a>. I’d always assumed that one of the teachers at my school wrote it herself, jotting it down about five minutes before music class on the desk blotter, but I see now that it’s been a favorite of Boy Scouts everywhere, not to mention a beloved folk song of Germany.<\/p>\n Sample lyrics:<\/p>\n Oh, may I go a-wandering I think there may have been some yodeling involved too. For the melody styled by the accordion, have a listen here<\/a>. <\/p>\n (You’re welcome.)<\/p>\n A nice little vine that, in my mind, will forever be intertwined with yodeling. <\/p>\n The Muppets covered it here<\/a>. This smallish evergreen vine, also known as the Happy Wanderer, is in bloom around town, always a surprising sight for February. It’s a tough little number in the pea family from eastern Australia that lays low all year, unnoticed, in … Continue reading
\nUntil the day I die!
\nOh, may I always laugh and sing,
\nBeneath God’s clear blue sky!<\/em><\/p>\n
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\nAustralian Native Plants Nursery, long at the top of my list for a day trip, provides pertinent stats on this vine here<\/a>.
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