Arriving home after being away for any length of time is always an exciting time. One set of eyes in our van - the driver's - stays glued to the road as we navigate the last few kms off of the highway and up the main boulevard to our neighborhood. The other eight eyes scan outside and look for any changes since our departure. Little voices pipe up from the peanut gallery:
"Hey, the Burger King closed down."When we left London last week, the landscape was gray and barren. The snow had already melted, but nothing green or colorful had yet sprouted.
"Why is the gas station being dug up?"
"Ooh, there are tulips growing in our garden? Where'd they come from?"
The world at home changed in our absence. The trees along the main road toward our house were decidedly green-tinged as we picked our way through traffic. My wife pointed out each tree that had seemingly exploded with life. The kids chimed in with their own observations of new flora.
Not wanting to plow into someone's rear bumper, I resisted joining them. So I mused about it instead. It's not as if life's starting from scratch, I thought. It's simply been dormant for a few months, lying invisibly below the surface. Spring's seeming rebirth is more a continuation of the circle of life than the beginning of something brand new.
I quicklly banished the logically technical train of thought as I enjoyed the singsong chitchat. My kids were excited about the changing world around them. Nothing else mattered.
Your turn: What does spring look like where you are? What does it mean to you?
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35 comments:
Funny you should ask this today. I did a post about our neighborhood and posted photos to my flickr acct showing spring here. Also, some flower shots in my photoblog - yes, it is now officially spring, MoMMY is posting flower shots.
Hi Carmi:
I wish I had your elegance in writing.
Any tips I found my journaling on my pictures to be bland.
Spring means to me The Lord has risen.
We will overcome death! Jesus will be on the other side waiting for us.
Have a great weekend.
Maggie
Hi Carmi! Thanks for stopping in on my blg. I do like your posts. You are a good writer.
Well spring here is not coming again until Sept but when it does it will look like daffodils and lambs :)
Michele sent me.
spring means its easier and more fun to get dressed! we don't need layers so we are free and easy. we can run down the street and we can play ouside.
i can start fiddling with my plants and we pick blosson up from the floor everywhere we go, so that 3 days later i find mangled, dried up organic debris in the bottom of my bag.
it means if we are observant and very lucky we can sometimes watch the dolphins leaping up the bosphorous, and the first small sailboats racing with bright sails.
spring may not mean real rebirth but it's certainly life starting afresh and it comes full with energy and colour. and after winter i for one am more than ready!!!
Spring is here and many Spring flowers are in full bloom, trees are beginning to show their leaves and its getting warmer. I've a huge number of tadpoles in the garden pond this year too.
Here from Michele's today.
It's well into Spring here in Southern England, we are due our hottest day of the year so far tomorrow.
Here from Michele's.
Spring here is about a week or two ahead of spring in Ontario. Perhaps we can add the closure of Burger King and the tearing up of gas station to the rites of spring in New Jersey!
Hi Carmi...
Michelle sent me!!!
Nice writing...
Love!!!
Hi Carmi
Michelle sent me...
Spring looks like happiness down in Mexico City. Girls wear cotton light dresses and sunglasses are all over!!!! Love it down here... very warm indeed. Tourists from less fortunate places (in weather means) stop by. Downtown emerges with music festivals and people eating home-made popsicles... nice.
Spring here in Colorado on April 21st, is still very embryonic. The buds are just coming in with the slightest tinge of green shadows on the trees. The cherry blossoms are fully in bloom on every tree...and the tulips and daffodils have bloomed. And everyone is sneezing!
Everything is green and lovely here in Ohio! The trees all have branches loaded down with blossoms and tulips and daffodils are popping up all over!
Here via Michele today :)
"Spring shows what God can do
with a drab and dirty world."
~ Virgil A. Kraft
Here daffodils are past their prime as are the crocus and tulips will soon follow their lead. The iris are awakening and the fig tree has leafed with small fruits already visable. The lilac is fragrant and azaleas bursting in color. The robin sits on her four turquoise eggs nested in a sticky holly bush.
Here from Michele.
Another wonderful picture! We have finally had a few nice spring days in a row here in Northern California. Before that it had rained about 2 out of 3 days for about 6 weeks.
Here from Michele's.
Well since I'm not ver far from you... * about 3 hours or so* It looks pretty much the same. What does it mean to me? That I can finally go without socks :)
Back again from Michele's! Thanks for coming by.
Carmi, great question. Charlotte, NC is a gorgeous city this time of year. Everything is in bloom. Azeleas, rhododendrons, wisteria,redbuds, cherries, double cherries, the list goes on. The dogwoods are just starting to peek out, they'll be glorious in another 3 weeks or so. I love this time of year...even with the rain.
When my son was younger we made a game of pointing out different blooming plants along our drives. It was adorable to hear him shout "wisteriaaaa!" in his excited 3 year old voice. If we drove by a red tip bush though we lost points. They are horrid if you aren't familiar with them. He doesn't get so excited about spring now though...at 17 it means he has to mow the lawn more often. ;-)
Hey Carmi, thanks for the wonderful words on my site...here from Michele's as well :) -- spring here is starting to pop up all over-daffodils are almost gone and other "stuff" is popping (yeah I am a huge gardener) LOL -- I think Spring is a rebirth..the only problem is is heralds the coming of summer and I despise the heat!!! Fall and spring wish it could be always.
Hello, Michele sent me.
Spring here is sunny and colorful. Sure makes it hard to sit in an office for 8 hours a day. But it is a welcome change from 6 weeks or so of rain.
TGIF!
you are such an elegant writer..
I love it
Over form the other MIchele's
Beautiful photo!
I'm in Kentucky and things are already very green here, and lately they're very wet. (We've been having lots and LOTS of thunderstorms the past couple of weeks.)
The redbud and dogwood trees are in full bloom, but most of the fruit trees and daffodils have done their show and moved on.
There are lots of dandelions making splashes of yellow and swaths of puffballs in the grass.
The bluebirds and purple martins are choosing their homes for the summer.
Here today from Michele's!
Hi Carmi, long time no see! Spring here is fantastic, one of the reasons I moved back up north was because I missed the seasons.
UK spring is fickle, meandering from grey to sunburst to cloudburst to strange icy things that hurt if they hit you. At the moment I can see sun out of one window and a lightly drizzle spotted view from another.
But I'm lovin' it.
Here today from Michele's.
rashbre
Michele sent me :o)
Spring means Reenactment Season begins for clan Aginoth :o)
Very yellow. Everything is absolutely covered with pollen, moreso than in other places I've lived. On the bright side, azaleas and wisteria are blooming everywhere.
In Tacoma Washington (Seattles little sister) It's a toss up between rain and sun. The earth is warming and the flowers are starting to bloom. I can get away with a light jacket and the wind feels like a little caress from heaven. I love spring in washington.
Carmi, I value your opinon, when you get a chance check out my test blog and leave me some input if you would.....I'm not trusting my judgement anymore, i've looked at it too much.
www.karatest.blogspot.com
GRACIAS!!
Hi Carmi! Saw that you were popping in and out of the M&G, so I thought I'd stop by. Spring here in Milwaukee is gorgeous! Hard to believe, cuz it's usually dreary. We've been fortunate. Oh darn, I just jinxed it.
Here via Michele's. Happy Friday!
Spring in the Yukon is dry and dusty. Seriously. The snow melts and evaporates very quickly. Dirt and dust everywhere. Puddles are rare, but thoroughly enjoyed. Spring here is also short. Last weekend we had a snowstorm. This weekend, it's 5 above, and the snow is almost gone.
Spring is finally here in Northern CA--little buds and leaves on trees, some flowers. We have had so many days of rain (historical records set) that it is just so nice to see the sun out for a bit.
I just posted about spring a couple of days ago. It's been an amazing spring so far. The forsythia is blooming, azaleas are coming along nicely in the sunny spots, the bulbs are popping up all over, and I'm just about ready to start sowing some perennial seeds into my garden. It is just beautiful here right now.
Thought of you today when we were visiting the MFA and walked into a new gallery with the most beautiful tile floor. It looked just like something that would attract your camera!
Here via Michele today
it means green buds on my favorite flowering tree in the front yard. Soon I'll have HUGE purple blossoms!!
Right now spring is in full bloom. I always know we're in the home stretch towards spring when the leaves on my red maple begin to unfold and turn upward. They're out now - in all their red-tinted glory. Not full shade casting leaves, but leaves just the same.
As always, I love the verbal and photographic images you paint. Here this time via Michele's.
It's finally starting. A few very early buds starting. A starting of grass greening. Don't reverse on us now spring!
Well, this is amazing Carmi. When I first glanced quickly at the picture I thought 'Oh, what a beautiful Bird! And she an interesting color!' I swear! Only on second looking did I realize that it is the leaves of the tree...This is one FABULOUS Optical illusion! I don't know if you will see it...but just look quickly and look away...! WOW!
I am going to post something tomorrow, (i think) that shows that there is a Spring here in Los Angeles....well, at least in my garden.(lol) This is my very favorite time of the year...new life, and life renewing itself. There is so much true hope in Spring, isn't there?
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