Yesterday as I was walking in the morning, a robin flew over me. For an instant I glimpsed red, the rest of the bird’s body pulled together tight in a smooth aerodynamic shape. It was as if the robin was in slow motion or if my eyes had become a camera with a slick shutter speed. It was a moment I would have missed if I had been running. This morning I caught tiny gray birds bouncing on branches near the ground. Some were clearly chickadees but the smaller ones I couldn’t identify. I stood for a while and watched, enchanted, wanting to run into the woods and join them but knowing my action, even my running, would scare them away.
We have spring and we have winter. Some mornings I wake to see frost thick on the roofs and streets, white like snow. Then the days unfold with warm sunshine, bright; the girls don’t want to wear coats outside although the thermometer warns us it is still winter. Yellow, purple and white, the crocuses are arriving, glowing like stained glass flowers. In the soil we can see where daffodils and tulips will be blooming soon, their green leaves like trumpets announcing the anticipation. Before lunch, the girls and I skip down the street to pet the pussy willow bush and feel the soft gray beneath our fingers.
One morning this week I woke and wondered where I had been. It felt as if I had been a bear, hibernating in a hole, and now could see sunshine. The winter inside me had been cold. Now I know what spring can mean…
4 responses so far ↓
1 Katherine // Feb 19, 2005 at 8:47 am
Beautiful croci! I love those. We don’t have any here. We used to have all those colors blooming along the side of our driveway when I was growing up and spring was a glorious procession each morning.
Now we do have pink and white freesia and pink and blue hyacinths. Those are lovely too, especially the scents.
2 Katherine // Feb 19, 2005 at 8:52 am
Beautiful croci! I love those. We don’t have any here. We used to have all those colors blooming along the side of our driveway when I was growing up and spring was a glorious procession each morning.
Now we do have pink and white freesia and pink and blue hyacinths. Those are lovely too, especially the scents.
3 Katherine // Feb 19, 2005 at 9:11 am
Beautiful croci! I love those. We don’t have any here. We used to have all those colors blooming along the side of our driveway when I was growing up and spring was a glorious procession each morning.
Now we do have pink and white freesia and pink and blue hyacinths. Those are lovely too, especially the scents.
4 Katherine // Feb 19, 2005 at 9:16 am
Beautiful croci! I love those. We don’t have any here. We used to have all those colors blooming along the side of our driveway when I was growing up and spring was a glorious procession each morning.
Now we do have pink and white freesia and pink and blue hyacinths. Those are lovely too, especially the scents.
Leave a Comment