Gifts abound in nature as I find tiny blossoms no one planted and when I open the door or windows to breathe in the scent of a rain shower. I appreciate the gifts of perennials planted carefully to bloom and grow in waves especially when they were planted by someone else and survive to bring joy years later.
Rhubarb is one of the most amazing plants. Snow can melt away and within a few short weeks the red stalks are ready to lend a new flavour to my kitchen, a flavour unique and missed throughout the cold months. Beautiful and strong, rhubarb is a survivor of the elements and a treat.
It surprises me how fast the colours change from grey and white to green with bursts of colour all around. After a winter indoors or wrapped in layers of heavy clothing it is a delight to see how much the neighbourhood children have changed from tiny tots to independent little people who want to blossom and break away from the confines of the house and explore a world, so new and exciting to them.
I watch friends? pets sniff, scan and paw at the edges of yards and bluffs of trees and I wonder what they remember and understand about the seasons.
Even though I know about science and expect the changes I never want to lose the sense of surprise and delight I feel when I experience spring with all of my senses. I want to take the time to bend closer to the ground as the air warms up and the sleeping beauties spring to life. I want to take walks and touch the leaves and remember the names of bushes and berries so I can share them with others. I don?t want to miss anything about the season.
Every day I look at my children, amazed at the changes in their faces and their heights. Sometimes I don?t realize they are changing until I find a snapshot taken just a few months earlier. In November we took a photograph during a family trip. In it my son was only slightly taller than I. Lately I?ve begun to look up into his eyes and a couple of weeks ago we took out a measuring tape and found him to be six inches taller than I am. He?s 15 now and although he hasn?t started counting down the months until he can leave home I already know that is a season I will have to face.
I see the beauty in the changes happening around me knowing many of the beautiful images, tastes and smells are fleeting teaching me appreciation now and patience for the future and more beautiful seasons to come.
