Spring
March 20th, that magical day spring arrives. Weather in my neck of the woods is 67 degrees and cloudy.
Earlier this week it was in the 20's with snow and ice and all the daffodils were hanging their heads. Most reared again, proud and defiant, when the snow and ice melted. A few, along with the forsythia, what my grandmother used to call yellow bells, faded and shriveled. Also defiant, are the tiny green tips on the hydrangea bushes flanking my front steps.
On my stroll around the yard, I was most excited to find new green fronds on a 20 year-old evergreen tree. They sprouted low on the trunk, a trunk that had been stripped bare and bedraggled by "Tropical Storm Helene" in September of 2024, but is still standing.
We are surrounded by what used to be woods, land in conservancy, where the earth still bears the weight of hundreds of trees broken or downed by Helene. Yes, a Tropical Storm/Hurricane that ravaged our neighborhood near the Blue Ridge Parkway and our communities of western North Carolina. Never in a million years would we have guessed the wrath that a Tropical Storm/Hurricane could bring to the mountains, hundreds of miles from the coast.
For every little bit of green that shoots forth, I am grateful. The forest will rebuild while the seasons come and go. So, I say Welcome Spring! Flourish and replenish this good land. Cover the scars and heal our hearts. Carry us forward one shoot or green leaf at a time.
Earlier this week it was in the 20's with snow and ice and all the daffodils were hanging their heads. Most reared again, proud and defiant, when the snow and ice melted. A few, along with the forsythia, what my grandmother used to call yellow bells, faded and shriveled. Also defiant, are the tiny green tips on the hydrangea bushes flanking my front steps.
On my stroll around the yard, I was most excited to find new green fronds on a 20 year-old evergreen tree. They sprouted low on the trunk, a trunk that had been stripped bare and bedraggled by "Tropical Storm Helene" in September of 2024, but is still standing.
We are surrounded by what used to be woods, land in conservancy, where the earth still bears the weight of hundreds of trees broken or downed by Helene. Yes, a Tropical Storm/Hurricane that ravaged our neighborhood near the Blue Ridge Parkway and our communities of western North Carolina. Never in a million years would we have guessed the wrath that a Tropical Storm/Hurricane could bring to the mountains, hundreds of miles from the coast.
For every little bit of green that shoots forth, I am grateful. The forest will rebuild while the seasons come and go. So, I say Welcome Spring! Flourish and replenish this good land. Cover the scars and heal our hearts. Carry us forward one shoot or green leaf at a time.
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