Gratitude Journal: Spring Flowers

In previous iterations of my life, the search for daily gratitude has been a tool that has helped me to find my way out of darkness.  It’s not overly dramatic to say that gratitude has saved me.  I’ve never given up my daily gratitude practice.  Each night when I turn out the light, I identify something in the day for which I am grateful.  That habit has served me well in the past 18 months, which have been hard.  As I am finding my way forward into a new existence and it is my recognition of gratitude that is helping to light my way.  

April and its abundant blooms ensure that gratitude is easy to locate.  By this point in the month, there is a flower or plant beginning to bloom nearly every day.  First the purple crocuses, then the white and yellow daffodils, the hostas peaking through the soil, the pink magnolia and cherry tree flowers, the redbud and dogwood blooms, phlox preparing to open, the tulips and then the azaleas……the sunshine and these abundant blooms are a daily reminder that there is beauty to be found when I need it most.  April and May are so very lovely and I never take these beautiful days for granted. That’s happy!

Dogwood Blooms

In the dark and cold of the early Spring mornings, I make time to step outside and spy the dogwood tree.  At first, the start of leaves and the small, tight buds that will become flowers take time to come into focus.  As the days grow longer and the sunlight grows warmer, the leaves, which start the size of slender nail clippings, begin to grow larger.  The same is true for the buds.  They start as tiny hard nodules on the end of new growth branches and daily they grow just a smidge bigger.  

Come April, it’s clear there will be flowers in the coming weeks and though I’ve known it all along, known it since the tree shed its leaves in the Fall, I am still overjoyed at the coming blossoms.  Spring is here, the dogwood flowers call to me, and in the chill of the early morning, the chirping birds and I cheer them on.

Among the Trees: Daffodil Season

It seems that I am always impatient for the arrival of Spring.  Though we had an incredibly mild Winter, this year was no exception.  I have been on the lookout for signs of Spring since I returned from California in February.  That means frequent visits to Colonial Park, where I like to take my walks and look for all the new blooms.  In the past week, the pace of Spring blooms has picked up.  There are daffodils everywhere.  Some are just starting to open their flowers. 

Others have begun to bloom.  

Within the week, more fields of daffodils will emerge everywhere I look.  I'm excited for the blooms.

Every year, I find early Spring to be a balm and a joy.  The sunlight, the warmth, the verdant new life...all of it is lovely.  This year, watching the new leaves and flowers has been bittersweet, as I think of my Dad and the garden chatter we always shared.  It’s a bit of a one-sided conversation these days, though I can hear his voice and I know he’ll be there as I plant my seeds and await the new life.  Spring, I hear you calling and I am here for all of it.

Daffodil Days

The year that JT was born, I would pick up a small bouquet of daffodils when I made the weekly run to the grocery store.  They helped me to celebrate my baby boy and made my days sweeter.  When I see daffodils in the market come late February and early March, I think of those days and I get myself a bouquet.  

It sits on the dining room table where I admire the bright yellow color of the bouquet.  As the flowers slowly open, I marvel at the passage of time and wonder what comes next.  

Happy Easter!

This is my first Easter weekend without JT at home and I’ll miss his appreciation of his Easter basket (though I won’t miss the candy wrappers he’d leave lying about).  I sent him a box of candy earlier in the week; I'll have a small package for him when I see him next week.  T and I will have our Easter supper together.  It will be lovely; holidays together are always nice.  My day will also be filled with memories of the days when an eager little boy scampered around the yard in search of plastic eggs filled with candy.  We’ll surely think about the avid hunter, Pesky the squirrel.  This year’s flowers and blooms would have provided perfect cover for the hidden treats.  

Things are lovely; with more blooms and green with each day.

I hope that Spring in your corner of the world is just as pretty as it is here.  

Garden Treats

In terms of blooms, Spring has arrived a little earlier this year.  All over my yard are bouquets of yellow and white daffodils.

They are a cheery show.  Over the weekend, I spied the hosta patches just beginning to reach out of the cold soil.  This is thrilling to me and I eagerly checked all the hostas in the yard, cheering their arrival.

The peach tree is filling with delicate pick blooms.  From a distance, they are barely a whisper but up close they are splendid.

Spring days, with new blooms arriving every few days, are a lovely reminder pause and enjoy Mother Nature’s splendid beauty.

April 1 Fairy Garden

During my Spring Break, I set out the mulch that will cover the fairy garden in the 2019 season.  I will add a bit more mulch before the fairies move in for the year but the shape of my fairy garden is already taking shape.

There are tulips that will bloom in this patch.

Though it's hard to see, the clematis is beginning to come to life.

The peach tree is also getting ready for some loveliness.

This month will see blooms and flowers and leaves and to my mind the most splendid of the seasonal displays that happen in my pretty corner of Mother Nature’s world.  That’s happy!

Dogwood Day: Tuesday, May 17

We’ve reached the point of Spring where verdant, lush green is everywhere.  All over town, dogwood trees are transitioning from flowers to leaves.  My tree is no exception.

This stage of Spring is unbelievably lovely, with mild air and fresh colors everywhere I look.  I sleep with the windows wide open and wake to morning color that makes the world seem like a splendid place.  There’s a freshness that makes it seem like all things are possible.  

That’s happy!

Dogwood Day: Tuesday, May 8

In the past week, white flowers emerged on my dogwood tree.

Blooms and leaves emerged for nearly all the trees in the past week.  There is a blanket of tree pollen everywhere we look. and all of the trees have tiny leaves which make up the hazy green of Spring.

Each morning, my backyard is fresh and dewy.  The verdant green makes for a lovely sight when I look outside each morning.  

That’s happy! 

Tulips

In Spring, tulips follow daffodils.  To my mind, daffodils are hearty, cheerful, and outgoing.  Tulips are a more serious flower, slightly aloof in their beauty.  Grouped together, they stand tall as they begin to open, the flowers held tight in the cold, patiently awaiting a warmer day.  In my backyard, I have some pink tulips of a variety called “emperor.”  It always seems like a fitting name for these shy and seemingly reserved flowers.  

All over town, the tulips have emerged as we march ourselves toward warmer days.  I am ready!

Dogwood Days: April 24

We’re on our way to dogwood flowers and green leaves.

Each morning as the sun rises, I talk time to admire the dogwood.

We’ve had a nice patch of warm, mild days and have reached the point in Spring when an explosion of blooms and greenery is just around the corner.  That’s happy and lovely!

In Search of Spring

On Saturday, after we finished our weekly grocery shopping chore, T and I went to Colonial Park to look for Spring.   We’d had one of those weeks, the sort that sends a reminder to stop and smell the roses.  It’s far too early for roses, but there were tulips.

There was a faint smell of Spring.  And there were tulip trees, which are a Spring treat I never grow weary of seeing.

Down the canal path, as twilight settled in, we could hear peepers and bullfrogs in the wetlands.

We’re still waiting for Spring’s abundance; the signs of its arrival are everywhere.  We’re ready.

Dogwood Days: April 17

A few days ago, we had unusual warmth and sunshine.  It was followed by a cold rainstorm yesterday.  When an afternoon cleaning emerged, I made pictures of the dogwood.  Overhead, things look quiet.

Close up, there are signs that leaves and dogwood flowers will soon emerge.  Spring is an expectant season and each day bring the prospect of more blooms to enjoy.

That’s happy!

Amaryllis Tuesday: April 3

Late last week we reached peak amaryllis, with no less than six flowers on the hardy amaryllis stem.

It was splendid and lovely and remains that way this week. It feels like the showy advance guard for April, a month that often begins stark and chilly but always manages to deliver blooms and lush green grass.  On that note, I’ve begun to document the progress of my backyard dogwood tree which is on its way to making its own splendid flowers for this Spring.  Up close, the potential can be seen in the small, tight buds on the branches.

From further away, the buds aren’t so obvious.  

And in yesterday's snow, it looks even less promising.

But I know that those buds will grow larger and that one morning soon I will wake up to dogwood flowers.  I like that element of Spring, a season that begins quietly and requires careful attention to be seen and in full steam becomes as showy as can be.  For the next few months, Tuesdays will be dogwood days and I will post a picture each week, as I watch the tree and enjoy the arrival of Spring.