Spring and Easter – all at the same time. Bright colors, light colors, the colors of spring. This flowering crabapple bonsai seemed to sum up the season and the day. Wishing you the bright colors and warmth and joy of spring and Easter!
Como Park
Hope
Webster’s dictionary defines hope as wanting something to happen or be true. So it is with spring this year. We “hope” for sunshine, warmer temperatures, the bright colors of flowers. We “hope” that the passing days bring longer hours of sunshine. And yet Mother Nature has alternative plans. This week we rode a roller coaster through snow and strong winds, rain, and the promise of warmer air. Through it all we strive to embrace what it is, just as these runners ran through a deserted Como Park having the trails and snow to themselves in this once-again wintry landscape.
Another delay in the change of seasons
The temperature dropped and winter came back to Minnesota during the past mid-week. The blue skies and hope of spring were delayed and side tracked by a fast-moving front that dropped snow and brought back winter’s cold winds. The gray sky that accompanied this snow seemed gloomier than usual, perhaps because of the desire for spring. But as I wandered the hills, listening to the rattling of the oak leaves in the wind, I saw a brief opening in the clouds – just long enough for a shaft of light to come through and give hope again for an eventual departure of winter.
An early thaw
Temps in the 40’s? That certainly means an early thaw in Minnesota, along with dreams and wishes for an early spring. I took advantage of the sunshine to take a walk around Como Lake. Along with many like-minded people who were soaking up this bit of warmth, the walking path and bike trail around the lake had everyone dodging puddles. The lake was open near the northern shoreline, allowing the ducks to come and go. In another area the ice held standing water to offer a second reflection of the winter trees. We know winter is not over, and there will most likely be more snowfalls, but for this day it was a welcome glimpse of spring to come.
Bright colors to help offset winter
In the doldrums of winter, sometimes the best antidote for this cold season is a splash of color. I was rewarded with just that at the McNeely Conservatory in Como Park this morning. The narcissus and Asiatic lilies were a profusion of bright colors, with an extra bonus of scent and smell. A few hours amongst the pink azaleas and cyclamen was a wonderful way to reset the dark of winter and look forward to longer and brighter days ahead.
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