Organic tulips at the Rodale Institute!
Yes, it’s high spring here in Pennsylvania, and last night after dinner, as I was drifting off to sleep on my outdoor couch, I started making a mental list of all the things I love about this special season:
1. The air smells sweet. Yesterday, a woman who works mostly in New York came into my Pennsylvania office with the windows wide open and asked me, “Oh, my gosh, what smells so good?” My response: “Nature.” This time of year, nature is the sweetest perfume. From the fragrant bushes to the scent of grass growing abundantly, it’s the best smell ever, and no candle or perfume company can even come close to replicating it.
2. That morning when all the baby birds are born. It was just the other morning, in fact. Before I even opened my eyes I heard them all chirping for their breakfast of worms and bugs. It’s like they’re all born on the same day to create a symphony of baby bird-ness!
3. Tulips. My youngest gave herself the middle name of Tulip, and it has stuck for the past three years. This is her season, and while tulips don’t usually have a fragrance, they are a beautiful display of diversity and fabulousness.
4. The green haze that starts on the forest floor. One day the forest is grey and brown; the next, you begin to see the green haze. And before you know it, the whole forest understory is covered in a fog of green that then bursts into…
5. The neon green of spring tree leaves. When you see something printed in neon green, it seems “unnatural” until you really, really look at a maple tree in the first few days of coming into leaf. It’s pretty amazing, actually, just how vibrantly green nature can be.
6. Sitting outside. OK, let’s be honest…lying down outside. On a blanket, on a couch, on a towel. Sitting is OK, too, but lying down is better.
7. Wild violets. You can eat them (the flowers). They taste good and look even better in salads or desserts. But more importantly, they just have a mind of their own and grow wherever they feel like, making a beautiful mat of perfect purple. No work or maintenance required.
8. Trees in flower. Before they turn that vibrant green, many of them burst out into a springtime aria of flowers. It’s such a fleeting, fantastic, and fascinating moment. Savor it!
9. Frisky animals. Everything is a little bit frisky and delirious with the pleasure of spring. Playful, determined, not sure which way to run. The other day, I was sitting in my bed looking out the window, and I saw two squirrels running up and down the tree outside with leaves in their mouths. It took me a minute to realize they were making a nest. Baby squirrels right outside my window—coming soon!
10. Open windows. The nighttime sounds of spring peepers and foxes’ barking, and the sweet scent of a moonlit night. Heaven!
11. Eating outside. Especially that first night when it’s truly warm enough and dinner is homemade and everyone is together. Those dinners after which instead of clearing the table and doing the dishes right away, we jump on the trampoline (but not too much since we just ate) or play soccer.
12. The promise of summer. More to come. More to come. Don’t complain to me about the heat!
Thank you for reminding us, once again, to be thankful for the beauty of the season. Lilies of the Valley and Lilacs are the scents that remind me most of Spring. They are like old friends – -coming back to share their sweet perfume yearly. And.. those lime- green infant leaves, lacy white, pink and purple blossoms budding forth on the trees. It all sings to my heart, “Grow, Grow, Grow!” Spring is a fragile and fleeting beauty — best to appreciate it, still, while we can.
Purple hyacinths! Their sweetness is always amazing to me. I was in the garden center last week and walked pass sweet alyssum, forgetting that there is a sea of alyssum at the nursery. Amazing! My rhododendrons are blooming later that usual. Their purple color is just gorgeous! The grass is so emerald, it’s like a carpet when mown.
I have 6 baby robins under my deck in 3 different nests. Every year they come to nest and lay their eggs. It’s sweet to be a surrogate mother to them.. The sweet bay magnolia beside the deck got a little beat up during the winter, but it is slowly rebounding, and I will be able to smell the sweetness of the short lived flowers soon.
I have noticed the baby squirrels that have taken up residence in my Martin birdhouse. The older ones chase each other at top speeds early every morning playing.
The bees are out in force, especially the carpenter bees, the wasps too! The breeze is cool but nice, with the sunshine. The air is fresh and color is everywhere. It’s past time to get busy gardening. A few more tomato plants to plant, and I am mostly done. Happy Spring!
I can’t think of anything I don’t love about Spring. New life, in nature, in animals and birds. A feeling of promise and hope for the world. Usually, immediately after Mother’s Day I plant my seeds for flowers, but due to the past year of health issues, I’m skipping that this year. But last year I discovered the Cornell University of Ornithology Lab website, and so again this year I have replaced my temporary loss of outdoor activity in the Spring, with the wonder of watching Redtailed Hawks lay their eggs, hatch them, feed and care for them with such love and compassion that is makes me wish I had been born a Redtailed Hawk!! The babies (3) go from little eggs to full grown Hawks in 8 weeks! So you can watch them grow each day. Some days I forget to eat, I get so caught up in their life. It does more than just amuse me, it gives me a sense of oneness with the world — that those birds can give so much of themselves just to give their babies a chance to live in this world! It makes me happy to be alive and able to see the miracles that are all around us still. Thanks, Maria, for the chance to remember and share, what it is that makes life so good!
Thank you
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