Washington Palms

There are about 202 genera with around 2600 different species of palm trees in the world. There are several varieties of the Washintonia but only one, the Washingtonia filifera is native to the Western U.S.  As the leaves grow, the older leaves die and form a skirt of dead leaves around the trunk. This dry skirt is a nuisance and in the summer thunderstorm season it is not uncommon for lightning to strike the palms and start a fire. Growing up in the Salt River Valley, I expected palm trees. I would guess there are well over a million of them growing in the city. It would be difficult to take a picture of the city and not show at least one palm tree, unless you tried to do so on purpose. One of my most intense memories was waking up in Argentina on my first day there. I arrived in the middle of the night and could not see anything on the trip from the airport. That morning I woke up early and opened the door to the room where I was staying. It was on the second floor, and right in front of the door was the top of a palm tree. I knew I was not going to be homesick.

One of my favorite Spanish poets is José Martí, who wrote:

Yo soy un hombre sincero
De donde crece la palma
Y antes de morirme quiero
Echar mis versos del alma.

This quote is from Martí, José. Versos sencillos de José Martí. La Colección "El ciervo herido". La Habana: ["La Veronica," Imprenta de M. Altolaguirre, 1939. Martí was a revolutionary poet in Cuba and a national hero. Quoting from Wikipedia, "Martí is considered one of the great turn-of-the-century Latin American intellectuals. His written works consist of a series of poems, essays, letters, lectures, a novel, and even a children's magazine. He wrote for numerous Latin American and American newspapers; he also founded a number of newspapers himself. His newspaper Patria was a key instrument in his campaign for Cuban independence. After his death, one of his poems from the book, "Versos Sencillos" (Simple Verses) was adapted to the song, "Guantanamera," which has become the definitive patriotic song of Cuba."