Lagniappe and Serendipity

According to Webster's — serendipity is "the phenomenon of finding valuable or agreeable things not sought for" ... and the word lagniappe means "something given or obtained gratuitously, or by way of good measure." I prefer to think of lagniappe as being "a little something extra, usually unexpected," and as a photographer, I encounter both every time I venture out in search of "pictures waiting to be taken." I recently went on a photo shoot hoping to capture the Redbud trees in the Vicksburg National Military Park, and discovered that, although they were blooming, the trees weren't quite at their peak yet. I was disappointed, but my spirits were lifted when I noticed that all around me there were bees and butterflies and dandelions and wildflowers, all happily heralding the coming of Spring – all “valuable and agreeable things not sought for,” right? Serendipity! Our Mississippi landscapes are, for the most part, still cloaked in the colors of winter but, in and amongst the drabness, some trees are already sprouting their baby "spring green" leaves ... I also found Snowbells ... And Dandelions ... And Hyacinths (on a street corner in downtown Vicksburg) ... On the way to the Park, I passed by the little pink bunny in a tree, which I featured in a blog post several weeks ago. If you would like to read her story, you can click on the link. She was still there, and was still looking very forlorn (perhaps I can "spruce" her up for Spring!). A little further down on Fort Hill Road from the bunny, I spotted these Daffodils, high on a bluff overlooking the Port of Vicksburg ... Also on Fort Hill Road is an antebellum house called Anchor to Windward, ca 1852. I love that name, and always find pretty flowers growing in front of it. This time, it was Vinca ... Next time I'm on Fort Hill Road (when I go to "spruce up" the bunny), I will get a picture of the house. A few houses down from Anchor to Windward, I was delighted to find this pretty white Crabapple tree ... Its blossoms remind me of Dogwood ... While I'm on the subject of Crabapple trees, I found this magnificent pink Crabapple tree at an old house called Plain Gables, ca 1834, which is located in "Old Town Vicksburg" ... You can tell how much I loved that tree by the number of pictures I took of it ... When I finished capturing the Crabapple tree, I noticed a pretty pink Azalea blooming at Duff Green Mansion across the street. I love Azaleas and hope to capture more pictures when they are at their peak blooming season here in Vicksburg. I realize this is a lengthy post, but I have a few more pictures from the park that I'd like to share. While driving the winding roads of the park I noticed an abundance of these trees, which were covered with white flowers ... I'm not sure what kind of trees they are, but they are obviously an "invasive" variety since they were everywhere. Invasive or not, they had flowers and I was curious to see what they looked like up close. I guess most of my pictures featured here would fall under the category of "Serendipity," but this honey bee was pure "lagniappe." Aren't the flowers amazing! I'm so glad I stopped to get a closer look. I hope you enjoyed my preview of Spring, and I hope your weekend will be blessed with both lagniappe and serendipity!