Easter -- Spring Springing

I don't celebrate Easter but I do celebrate the coming of spring although in this part of the country it's one step forward, one step back. This afternoon the morning gray had turned sunny and the temperature got over 60. I went for a walk in the woods surrounding a couple of ponds looking for signs of spring in the still brown/gray of leafless trees.

My first intimation was a young couple sitting on a picnic table, he in sleeveless turquoise tee shirt. They were gazing at the pond and totally self-absorbed. Ah, spring and young lovers. My walk was slow and meditative. The lichen was a brilliant green, a couple of men were fishing in the pond. I met the expected dogs and their people and watched a sure footed young couple jog down a tricky steep part of the path. And I found that briars were turning an acid green and had mean sharp thorns already. This is the beginning -- rhododendrons are evergreens and so was the one holy tree I saw. Back home at my apartment I look out on a green lawn which is beginning to sprout dandelions like bright yellow buttons attached to the grass. Robins have arrived and are busy chasing both bugs and one another. Spring is springing.t

Fine Fickle Weather

The weather prediction was quite specific. Clouds in the morning, turning to bright sun in the afernoon. Didn't happen. Until mid-afternoon and never as warm as predicted. Throughout most of April and May, sometimes right into June, it is impossible to be dressed comfortably. Too warm or too cold, or it rains when no one expects it. I went out of my building this morning and saw a woman walking by in a sleeveless dress. I saw a man coming toward me in a parka with the hood up. Seveal people were wearing raincoats. We're all confused.

Oh, well ... as a walked home from the post office in the fine sun that finally shone, the street was lined with trees in new leaf -- the sun filtered through the tender yellow green of the small leaves and sprinkled the sidewalk with light while I walked under the new canopy. The picture here is from a walk to the Conservatory Garden in Central Park on Sunday before last. It was a lovely day. After the garden I found a path I had not previously been on in a section, the North Woods, I have not ventured into before -- it's further north than I usually have reason to walk. I picked my way through a bit of bog that had spread over the path for a few feet.

Eventually I was reluctant to leave and spent 15 mintues on a bench watching the usual mix of New Yorkers from toddlers to elderly out enjoying a truly wonderful day. The next day it rained and turned cold. But weather is a blessing for what many of us consiider social life -- it's always something to talk about. And we do.