And Yet....
The snow moon evaporated at dawn, leaving behind the ghosts of silver shadows that hovered and drifted through the naked spires of the trees, pressing their gauzy fingers against our windows. By noon the sun had once again pushed his face through the curtain of grey and warmed the air to an untimely resemblance of spring, almost audibly laughing at a moon so inappropriately christened.
As confused by this peculiar impersonation of winter as I, the tulip trees are blooming. In great ball gowns of pink they preside over lawns and gardens all over town, joined here and there by other flowering brethren tricked into blossom by this winter that never was.
The beauty is undeniable, one can hardly look away.
Yet, beneath the candy-coloured visage of the streets I walk along lies a pulsating seed of disquiet. For here, where as a child I was bundled and swaddled against the piercing cold of February, I now dig through closets for linen. Where icicles once hung from the eaves of the house, the rose bushes threaten to bud. The change bows my head and bends my knee.
This premature spring that elbows its way through a vague semblance of winter is no less glorious that her sisters who once arrived on my doorstep in April. And yet, to deny the strangeness is impossible and, I fear, unwise.
To be nourished by the beauty while acknowledging the concern, this is the tightrope we all must walk.
For no matter what weighs us down, cannot the beauty of the natural world always lift us up,
no matter what, no matter when?
And yet…..
Painting above by Liz Wright
This unusual weather is leading me to falsely? Believe that we are done with snow. So steal myself against the big let down. Yet spring will arrive eventually. 💖
ReplyDeleteI had just finished a Washington Post article before opening your post. It said that already the record highs compared to the record lows through February 13th were 150 to 1. It is especially troubling to fruit growers when buds start coming forth too early and then can be zapped by a killing frost. It happens fairly often here at my elevation where the buds of shrubs and trees crack open from the unseasonably warm temperatures and are left defenseless when the cold and frost come back. Thus growing hydrangeas can be frustrating - some years all the buds on the old growth are killed. This topsy turvy winter seems to definitely be more erratic than usual. Forboding indeed.
ReplyDeleteAnd yet indeed..... I sit here in Brisbane Australia enduring the hottest summer with temperatures regularly peaking in the high 30's and a weekend spent huddled around the air conditioner while outside rose to 41 deg C. The radio warned us this morning to expect another bleaching on the Great Barrier Reef due to high sea temperatures. And yet there are people who will not entertain the idea that something is amiss. So worrying.
ReplyDeleteWith joy I noticed this week that the sun rose to the left of our mountain in the southeast of our property instead of the right. That is one sign of spring. The next sign will be when the sap begins to flow in our sugarbush and my husband starts tapping the trees for maple syrup production. The signs are appearing up here in the northeast, but they ebb and flow between sun and storm.
ReplyDeleteLovely, as always. Southern California has had a very cool (by our standard temps) winter and a very wet one. Nature does always provide beauty, even when the weather is severe (too hot or too cold).
ReplyDeletexo,
Karen
Tomorrow the weathermen are predicting we may get up to 4" of rain in the Los Angeles area over the weekend. There is no doubt that weather around the world has altered considerably in the last several years. We must take the good with the bad. At the same time, as responsible caretakers of the earth, we need to prevent unnecessary changes due to human irresponsibility. In my mind that is every person's duty regardless of political choice, religious choice, or any other choice. We need to protect the world we live in for our generation, our children's generation, all future generations.
ReplyDeleteClimate change is indeed worrying. At least an early spring is normal for England, where I'm living now on sabbatical.
ReplyDelete