Hazardous flower petals

My usual route entails taking Howes Street off Dot Ave to Pleasant and then a quick right onto Willis Street, to Bakersfield, which runs to Stoughton and then Dudley Street and a straight, if congested, shot to points beyond. I avoid a lot of traffic-related headaches this way.

While there is little traffic on Willis Street, there are other hazards. I tend to look up at one of the houses to see the bowling pins in the second story window when I pass. They are a kind of landmark that lets me know I am so far on my journey. Willis Street is a tree-lined one, with the kind of trees that have arching branches obscuring the sky. This time of year they are all abloom and they have turned the dull, gray, pockmarked pavement found most everywhere in Boston, into a carpet of flower petals and pollen. It is one of the prettiest streets in Dorchester this time of year, a paean to Spring's perennial fertility. I worry that this beauty may have its dark side.

While it is seductive to take Willis Street, for the above mentioned reasons, the threat of rain makes me think twice. While I am gawking about looking for bowling pins, someone may pull out of their parking space while it's raining. In that case, the flower petals which are so soothing to the eye during dry weather may in fact turn into that nemesis haunts every motorcyclist. Remember: wet leaves are like ice! I would hate to be zipping along in my usual reverie and have to pull tightly on the front brake, thus landing on my head. The EMTs would say, "It was the fall that broke his neck, but the cherry blossoms made it possible."