hummingwolf | Update

There are long stretches of winter and summer when you can hardly tell the days one from another. All the world is brown, or all the world is white, this day is like tomorrow and it just goes on and on.

Spring isn't like that. Each day has new beauties, specific to itself, which will fade by tomorrow to be replaced by another kind of loveliness. Cherry blossoms at their glorious peak yesterday morning began to cast away their petals in the late afternoon, the beginnings of what will be a white carpet on the sidewalks and streets tomorrow or the next day. Leaf buds, barely perceived, which seemed to envelop bare branches in a green kind of haze, open up into fresh tiny green leaves, then mature into something more stable. One day you have an ordinary patch of grass--next day you have a lawn covered in white and purple violets and golden dandelions.

It's always true that one day of your life is unique in itself and you will never see its like again. But the illusion of sameness can be strong. This time of year, if you're willing to pay attention, the illusion is stripped away. Open your senses and you are always rewarded with something new.

So anyway, yesterday I started out feeling like a bundle of exposed nerves, in a not entirely unpleasant way. Went for a long walk (didn't go quite to the DC line, but only because I got turned around in a traffic circle and figured I may as well keep going in the new direction), enjoying the sights of the cherry trees and bradford pears and more bradford pears, as well as flowers and chirping birds and people hanging out in their neighborhoods on a sunny and warm spring day. Unfortunately by the end of the day I was feeling overexposed and wished my nerves would stop being so exquisitely sensitive when I felt like I was developing a sunburn.

Today, went walking in a different direction, not so far as yesterday. Between yesterday and today, I traipsed through urban areas and wooded paths; crossed streams and rivers (okay, one branch of one river); admired big houses in nice neighborhoods, little houses in friendly neighborhoods, and ugly apartment buildings I can be happy not to live in; and wandered into a few buildings to do the typical boring errands. Squirrels, dogs, small children, and a Birman cat have crossed my path. Man, am I tired.

I finally found some of the Darth Mix Dark Chocolate M&Ms today, so maybe those will help to fuel tomorrow's enjoyment of tomorrow's new beauties.

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Sounds like some really beautiful walks you took!

Hello, I enjoyed your description of the changing trees - especially the "green haze" of leaf buds. Beautiful!

Yes, every day in spring is such a wonder. It's one of the reasons I gladly stay in this type of climate despite wishing I could live without winters. Winter is worth it for the Spring. :)

Well, it depends on what you're paying attention to. Parts of my walk on Sunday were in not-very-pretty urban areas, so it was a matter of paying attention to the ugly buildings or looking closer at the cherry trees planted in front of them. :-) Of course I also had to pay attention to traffic and all the other people on the sidewalks. Still, I was free to pay less attention to the cars than I would've been if I'd been in a car.

But yeah, there were some beautiful parts of my walks on both days. I'm glad I had the chance to get out there. (Bronchitis is really finally gone! Hip hip hooray!)

Thank you! I'm a big fan of trees in general, but love them even more in the spring and fall.

Heh. I actually like winter! Then again, I live far enough south that winter's rarely all that severe. I'll say that maybe summer is worth it for the fall. ;-)

yay for walks! yay for happy spring trees!
what is a birman cat?
darth mix! heee
*huggles*

Ever seen a long-haired cat with markings like a Siamese? There are two kinds of those. Himalayan cats started out as a cross between Siamese and Persian cats, and they have the same kind of body shape and smushed-in face that the Persians do. Birmans, on the other hand, are supposedly the sacred cat of Burma (as opposed to Burmese cats, which were first bred in the United States), and have a longer body & different kind of face.

I've got a cat breed book checked out of the library right now, which is the only reason I remember all this. :-)

Since you have a cat breed book ... I will tell you what my babies are! lol Delilah is an oriental and Funkel is a ragdoll. Sam is a penguin. :-P

Sounds so beautiful! I wish you had a camera and scanner so you could show us those cherry blossoms. They sound wonderful. I like springtime trees, I think they look fluffy! And I can really see why they call it "spring". New growth just springs up everywhere. Hmm... I can also see why they call Autumn "fall"... :-)

Yea, I wouldn't mind less severe winters, especially if they were shorter. November - April is just too much winter.

Sam is a penguin. :-P

Penguin? but I thought Steven was the penguin..

Yeah, yesterday would have been a great day to have a camera. I've never actually had a usable camera of my own!

Yes, spring is very springy and fall is full of falling things. It's fun. :-)

LOL Hmm... guess they're both penguins. Sam wears a permanent tuxedo. :-)

It's good to have a feline who looks good in the classics. :-)

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