Snowdrops making an appearance at the Royal Botanical Garden in Edinburgh, Scotland
Here in Nashville the annual Antiques and Garden Show is getting
underway. The temperatures are more cold and windy than is typical, and
the garden displays with colorful spring blooms are going to be tonic
for many of the souls that visit the show this weekend. Punxsutawney
Phil may have predicted another six weeks of winter when he saw his
shadow, but spring is on the minds of many!With that in mind,
1) What do you anticipate with the coming of spring?
Spring is a favorite season, in part because I have a spring birthday. I also welcome the return of color and beauty to the world following the grays and browns of winter. I love the parade of blooming things that begin with snow drops and croci, and leads us into the greening of the world and the enduring blooms of summer. On a more intimate and spiritual level spring also heralds the promise of hope, whether that means fanning the flames of dreams or experiencing the transforming redemption that is part of healing and new life.2) Is there anything you will miss about winter?
Call me crazy, but I love sweaters and cold-weather food. Soups and casseroles, and the comfort of cool fingers wrapped around my morning coffee mug are sweet companions to my introverted nature.3) Is there an occasion on the horizon to which you’re looking forward?
4) Do you have a favorite spring memory?In May I will serve again as chaplain to a week-long icon-writing workshop. That week of holy and creative community enriches my soul, and the icon that results from it feeds me continually afterward.
Where I grew up spring vacations took place in April. Each year my family journeyed from Connecticut to my family's tree farm in South Carolina where my grandmother spent a couple of months each spring. The highlight of that time was always being there at Melrose, but we often combined the trip with sightseeing detours to historic places along the way. I'm thankful for those visits to Gettysburg, Monticello, Williamsburg, Valley Forge, and other sites that helped instill in me a love for our country's history.
5) Do you have a favorite spring flower/bloom, and if so, what makes it special to you?
Tulips and dogwood top the list. Tulips were a favorite of my grandfather, so that created a bond for us, and dogwoods bloomed around my birthday. I also adore daffodils, and when they grew in my yard I loved to cut a huge bunch of them to display in the house.
5 comments:
Dogwood!!! Of course. There's nothing more beautiful than a dogwood in bloom. Thanks for the picture and the post.
There is something about soup and homemade bread which just is winter. And the casseroles...just wish the scale liked those as much as I do. :-)
~~Elaine
Another soup luver here!
crockpots are great for winter meals
and yes, more daffodils please! they bloom later for us on Canadian prairies, but, happily, we do get them
As much as I've disliked this intense cold we've had this winter, I am always mindful that everything needs this time to rest and be ready to re-emerge come spring, and so do we in many ways. It's a contemplative time for me. If we didn't have this time of cold and quiet, we would have much less enjoyment and appreciation for the magical greening of our landscape come March and April.
As you know I am EXTRA ready for spring this year :)
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