The season of spring is the season of color.  We come out of the white, silent world of winter and our senses are shocked by the abundance of colors.  Our grasses are green, the new leaves are starting to emerge, and the flowering trees are now taking their turns.  My eyes have been caught by the brilliant yellows and golds of the forsythia bushes that are now blooming.  And when I drove past an entire hillside of them glowing in the sun I knew I had to return.  But yesterday morning was cloudy and cold, with a gusty sharp wind that was keeping our temperatures in the 40’s.  As I drove over to the yellow hillside I wasn’t too terribly excited because of the conditions.  But what I found as I wandered around on the hill was a beautiful old redbud tree that has also responded to our early spring with buds of purple that were starting to emerge.  Those of you from Minnesota will know that the University’s colors are maroon and gold, and so it shouldn’t come as a surprise that this hillside of forsythia and this wonderful purple/maroon redbud was on the Saint Paul campus.  Do you suppose this is a coincidence?