With a few warm days interspersed between lots of cold, wet, windy days it seems that spring this year is taking
A Winding Path
The winds are cold and damp again today and this morning a few snowflakes fell. Yesterday the weather couldn’t seem to make up it’s mind. One minute it was sunny and the next minute tiny raindrops were falling.
“Is the spring coming?” he said. “What is it like?”…
“It is the sun shining on the rain and the rain falling on the sunshine and things pushing up and working under the earth,”
― The Secret Garden
Despite the weather’s indecision yesterday we took a hike at the Eloise Butler Wildflower Garden in Minneapolis. I could see the slow wake-up of the garden’s trees, plants, and bushes.
Though there was not a lot of green yet, there were patches of green here and there all along the path.
Along with the new growth appearing, I saw little wild altars that nature had created in various spots along the path.
“Sometimes since I’ve been in the garden I’ve looked up through the trees at the sky and I have had a strange feeling of being happy as if something was pushing and drawing in my chest and making me breathe fast. Magic is always pushing and drawing and making things out of nothing. Everything is made out of magic, leaves and trees, flowers and birds, badgers and foxes and squirrels and people. So it must be all around us. In this garden – in all the places.”
― The Secret Garden
The elderberry bush was starting to develop small leaves and blossoms.
And some of last year’s ferns still retained their green color against the brown leaves of last year.
A tiny red squirrel watched us from a limb of a nearby tree.
And sharp-lobed hepatica were in bloom here and there along the path.
There were white ones and light pinkish lavender ones.
A small stream meandered beside the path. I saw some skunk cabbages in bloom near the stream, but they were too far away from the path to photograph.
Bloodroot flowers were almost ready to burst into bloom, leaves curled protectively around their flower stems.
One of the strange things about living in the world is that it is only now and then one is quite sure one is going to live forever and ever and ever. One knows it sometimes when one gets up at the tender solemn dawn-time and goes out and stands alone and throws one’s head far back and looks up and up and watches the pale sky slowly changing and flushing and marvelous unknown things happening until the East almost makes one cry out and one’s heart stands still at the strange unchanging majesty of the rising of the sun—which has been happening every morning for thousands and thousands and thousands of years.
― The Secret Garden
I was sorry to say goodbye to the wildflower garden but rain had begun to fall and it was time to go home. The winding path of spring continues. Spring’s slow start will give us all more time to watch for and admire the spring ephemeral wildflowers bloom.
May you walk in beauty.
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