Glorious Spring!

How wonderful is Spring! If I were a poet, I would certainly spin out mellifluous lines about the beauty around me for there is no end to it. But, woe is me, I'm a prose man, and so you are stuck with reading a prosaic observation rather than a poetic one

Last Saturday, I spent the afternoon in the garden with My Love. It is so exciting. We had not been out there since the previous Monday because of the many rain showers throughout the week. What a pleasant surprise! The leaf and head lettuce were standing proudly in their rows. Beans, peas and kohlrabi were stretching up to take advantage of the bright sunshine. Spinach and cilantro added a deeper green to the pattern. Even the onions and corn were far enough out of the ground to be able to distinguish the rows. The only plants not yet up are those that we just planted a week ago.

We spent the time laying down black material between the rows to prevent the weeds/grass from taking over, while still allowing the rain to soak into the ground. According to the plan, this will save us a lot of time over the coming months by eliminating some of the weeding.

At home, we are enjoying orioles, goldfinches and wrens perching on the feeders that the neighbor downstairs has out. They have to fight with the purple finches, as well as the sparrows who want their turn. Of course the robins and black birds are busy searching the lawns for some tasty morsels. Every now and then, a blue jay gets into the fracas to add a note of disharmony.

The flowering trees and shrubs are more full and colorful this year than I can remember. It seems to me that there are so many more of them around than when we lived up here before. Flowering crabs, lilac, Eastern redbuds and many other types are bursting with bright hues and delightful fragrances. It's a pleasure just to drive down the road and experience the collage of colors.

Perhaps we are appreciating this explosion of Springtime more because we have missed it for the past twelve years while living in Texas. The coming of this season in South Texas, while welcome, was definitely less of a contrast with winter than here in Iowa. We are grateful to God for this opportunity to bask in His beauty.