Ah, sunny dandelion, you harbinger of spring! |
The Midwest and South are bracing for wicked storms that include winds up to 70 m.p.h., damaging hail, rain, flooding, tornadoes...well, move over El Nino, it's spring!
I was thinking as I walked this morning that spring always seems to come in hard, teasing with a few warm summer-like days, mild enough to fool the daffodils into emerging and the trees into setting buds. The kind of days that make me reach for sandals instead of boots.
Then, WHAM!
Daffodils, the bravest of spring flowers, glow in morning sunshine. |
Weather forecasters here are always reminding us that April is the
2nd snowiest month.
(Would you believe March is our best month for snow?)
April is a changeable month, full of surprises--not all bad--but unpredictable to the point that when I leave for a day of errands I throw in a coat with gloves, a jacket with lighter gloves and a down vest--just to make sure I have choices no matter what the weather appears to be doing at the time I leave.
I dress for the temperature, certainly, but especially for the WIND, which can be considerable even on a bright sunny blue-sky day--the kind we take for granted in Colorado because they are so "normal."
On my walk along the Cache la Poudre River, this blooming bush gets my "Early-Blooming Award!" |
"Winter is on my head, but eternal spring is in my heart; I breathe at this hour the fragrance of the lilacs, the violets and the roses, as at 20 years ago."
-- Victor Hugo
A newly added water gauge proves to be a very helpful resource. |
(As a driftwood artist, I look at it as new inventory arriving daily and can't wait to see what the river will bring me this year!)
Looking at the snow-capped Rocky Mountains from the steps of the Stanley Hotel in Estes Park last week. |
The Cache la Poudre River begins to spill into channels, dry during winter, brimming with water in April. |
-T.S. Eliot
"The Waste Land"
Living and dead, the eternal circle, is so apparent when the color green emerges. |
And, so, as winter packs the last of its belongings, spring is already impatiently pounding on the door, ready to take occupancy.
As for me, I'm not quite ready to unplug the snow blower nor am I going to indulge in mindless meanderings through nurseries browsing perennials and other donations to the bunnies.
I haven't yet tackled "getting the gardens into shape"--whatever that means. I hesitate to snip and prune just in case Jack Frost is also planning a surprise visit.
I think I'll save that job for May when we are closer to summer than to spring--and spring's unruly predecessor winter.
My Bleeding Hearts were blooming last week during the height of Winter Storm Vexo! |
"The lilac branches are bowed under the weight of the flowers: blooming is hard, and the most important thing this is--to bloom."
--YevgenyZamyatin
("A Story About The Most Important Thing")
I read once that no is promised another Lilac Season so I take every opportunity to enjoy lilacs every season and inhale deeply the sweet perfume of spring. |
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