Peak Spring
Apr. 17th, 2013 08:29 pmThe dogwoods across the street are in full bloom, with clouds of white and pink flowers that will soon be dropping to the ground. The color never lasts for long, and it's nice to have some fair weather to show them at their best. Some years the blossoms are ruined by rain or shriveled by heat, but this year has been perfect for them. The new oak leaves are doing quite nicely, too, already so dense that, at dusk, when the trees are silhouetted against the darkening sky, the boles and branches are hardly seen.
This may be both the most colorful and the greenest week of the season. Even the moss on the mulberry tree's trunk is still green, though not as lush as it was during the rainy time. It will soon be turning dull and dry, about the time the dogwood blossoms fall. The oak leaves will darken, too, and the slow shift toward summer will begin. The air will smell a bit dryer each day, and in the sultry afternoons the sound of lawn sprinklers will be heard, and the buzzing of bees. Even now, though the night arrives with a chill, I can sense spring preparing to turn aside to make way for summer. It is a slight scent of drying soil on the night air. Spring is too brief.
This may be both the most colorful and the greenest week of the season. Even the moss on the mulberry tree's trunk is still green, though not as lush as it was during the rainy time. It will soon be turning dull and dry, about the time the dogwood blossoms fall. The oak leaves will darken, too, and the slow shift toward summer will begin. The air will smell a bit dryer each day, and in the sultry afternoons the sound of lawn sprinklers will be heard, and the buzzing of bees. Even now, though the night arrives with a chill, I can sense spring preparing to turn aside to make way for summer. It is a slight scent of drying soil on the night air. Spring is too brief.