Tag Archives: spring
For a moment
“I once had a sparrow alight upon my shoulder for a moment, while I was hoeing in a village garden, and I felt that I was more distinguished by that circumstance that I should have been by any epaulet I could have worn.” — Henry David Thoreau Not long ago Jeff called me to the front …
Showing off
“I’m lying in my room listening to the birds outside. I used to think they sang because they were happy. But then I learned on a nature show they’re really showing off.” — Jo Knowles So much for our romantic anthropomorphism. But for a bird, maybe showing off is a cheerful sort of thing to …
A happier state of mind
“To be interested in the changing seasons is a happier state of mind than to be hopelessly in love with spring.” — George Santayana Here in the northern hemisphere, we are enjoying the colors of the foliage and the cooling weather. Meanwhile, our neighbors south of the equator are enjoying the end of winter and …
Part of the silence
“In order to see birds it is necessary to become part of the silence.” – Robert Lynd Today’s photos are NOT mine, as much as I’d like to take credit for them. I’m re-blogging some amazing photos by Michael of talainsphotographyblog. Michael is a talented and prolific photographer who gives us a closeup view of …
The singing of birds
“For, lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone; the flowers appear on the earth; the time of the singing of birds is come…” — Song of Solomon 2:11-12 Let’s hope the winter is mostly past by now, and the rain, while not over and gone, will surely give way to more …
The first spring day
“The first day of spring is one thing, and the first spring day is another. The difference between them is sometimes as great as a month.” — Henry Van Dyke On March 17, St. Patrick’s Day, we returned to Alexandria to find six inches of snow on the ground. Really! I had just left behind …
In the spring
“In the spring, at the end of the day, you should smell like dirt.” ― Margaret Atwood I’m re-blogging this lovely March 19, 2012 post from Alys at Gardening Nirvana, who reminds us that we can find ways to welcome spring even in small spaces. I put the words in the next to last paragraph …
Different kinds of weather
“In the spring I have counted one hundred and thirty-six different kinds of weather inside of four and twenty hours.” — Mark Twain Until this year, I might have accused Twain of exaggerating with this statement. Now? Maybe not. It’s easy to forget that last spring seemed equally erratic at the time. I was searching …
Under the giving snow
“Under the giving snow blossoms a daring spring.” — Terri Guillemets I find it hard to believe that as I’m writing this (on March 7, two weeks before publication) I STILL see snow on the ground outside! It’s melting in places, but most of the grass is still covered with it, and those nasty-dirty drifts …
One of those March days
“It was one of those March days when the sun shines hot and the wind blows cold: when it is summer in the light, and winter in the shade.” — Charles Dickens Today (two weeks before this is published) Michael commented that spring had been flirting with us. That’s a perfect description of the past …
Fling off thy sadness
Awake, thou wintry earth –Fling off thy sadness!Fair vernal flowers, laugh forthYour ancient gladness! — Thomas Blackburn As I write this, I keep glancing out my glass doors, and I see there is still snow on the ground. But the sun is shining brightly, and the snow is melting, slowly but surely. It was raining …
It takes courage
“It takes courage to be crocus-minded…Highly irregular. Knifing through hard-frozen ground and snow, sticking their necks out, because they believe in Spring and have something personal and emphatic to say about it.” — Jo Sorley Deciding to have faith and hope isn’t always easy, but it is a decision, and one that comes more naturally …
The sun a spark
“The days are short The sun a spark Hung thin between The dark and dark.” — John Updike One thing I like about this time of year is the gradual lengthening of daylight hours. It still turns dark far too early, several weeks away from the onset of Daylight Savings Time. But I know that …
Places in our hearts
“The flowers of late winter and early spring occupy places in our hearts well out of proportion to their size.” — Gertrude S. Wister When we first moved to Virginia, I was delighted that the home we bought featured several camellias along the back fence. They’ve grown impressively large, and since they bloom in winter, …
Like life
“Do not watch the petals fall from the rose with sadness; know that, like life, things sometimes must fade before they can bloom again.” — Author unknown The cherry blossom trees of Washington DC are justly famous, but the ones I most enjoy are right outside the front door of our townhouse in Alexandria. Until …
Our song
“Do not abandon yourselves to despair. We are the Easter people and hallelujah is our song.” — John Paul the Great Though I have never been a Roman Catholic, I was drawn to the writings of John Paul II. His erudition and resolve impressed me, but I connected most with his steadfast devotion to the theme that …
Just three days
“Earth’s saddest day and gladdest day were just three days apart!“– Susan Coolidge The gospel story of Jesus and his victory over death was foreshadowed centuries earlier, and not only in the writing of the Old Testament prophets. In the book of Psalms we find this hopeful verse: “Weeping may endure for a night, but …
Poems by heart
“It is spring again. The earth is like a child that knows poems by heart.” — Rainer Maria Rilke I don’t consider myself a poet, but I do like to write poetry as well as read it. When writing poems I have to curtail the number of words I use so that every single one has an …
The gladdest thing
“I will be the gladdest thing under the sun! I will touch a hundred flowers and not pick one.” — Edna St. Vincent Millay Millay was one of the first poets whose work I loved, and I learned this verse as a girl. I have said it silently to myself countless times over the years. …
There will be times
“Let us learn to appreciate there will be times when the trees will be bare, and look forward to the time when we may pick the fruit.” — Anton Chekhov Even when the trees appear to be bare, there is a lot happening underground. A gardener once explained to me that fall is the best …
Spring emerges
“As a child I used to think that spring happened suddenly. Now I know that spring emerges gradually, as new as dawn—and as old.” – June Masters Bacher We had some unseasonably warm weather a few weeks back, and because of that (and OK, maybe because of what the ground hog said) I was expecting …
Hard to imagine
“Instead of running away from our loneliness and trying to forget or deny it, we have to protect it and turn it into a fruitful solitude. To live a spiritual life we must first find the courage to enter into the desert of our loneliness and to change it by gentle and persistent efforts into …
The color green
“When I look out the window, I exhale a prayer of thanks for the color green…for the simple acts of faith like planting a garden that helped see us through another spring, another summer.” — Barbara Kingsolver Many times over the years I have felt deep gratitude for the color green, especially as it reappears each …
A happy thought
“It was a happy thought to bring To the dark season’s frost and rime This painted memory of spring, This dream of summertime.” – John Greenleaf Whittier Last Thursday, the evening before Jeff’s burial ceremony at Arlington, I opened our front door to family arriving from out of town and found a package on my doorstep. It …
Defeat Despair 