Don’t blink

I spent some time this week working on a post about skating, but I’m not ready to hit “publish” on it– probably because I spent more time skating than writing, and when I wasn’t skating I was outside, soaking up sun and spring color.

Yesterday we carved out a new section of garden and began planting it. In the house, we put away candles and the little lamp we’ve kept on the dining room table to light our morning and evening meals. It’s been weeks since we’ve turned it on. “Candle and fire season is done,” I said, moving a basil plant to the spot where the candles had been and opening the front door to let in fresh air.

The world’s first green is still gold, but the tulips have already begun their wilt, and the willow’s blossoms are turning into leaves. It’s high spring in our part of the world, when the grass needs mowing more than once a week and branches transform from bare to blossoms in two days. If you blink, you miss it. Sometimes, writing is a way of seeing more deeply and clearly, but sometimes it’s a way of blinking.

I didn’t want to blink this week.

What was worth seeing deeply in your part of the world this week?

12 thoughts on “Don’t blink

  1. Laura Millsaps says:

    Peonies! Not when they bloom (that comes later for us here, in mid-May) but when they first come out of the earth. Peony sprouts are the deepest, most lovely ruby red; I don’t know why I get such a deep satisfaction seeing them emerge from the ground, but I do. It’s one of my spring garden rituals, rummaging around in the leaf litter left over from winter to see if they are there. In a few short weeks they’ll be leafy green stems with flower buds.

    • Rita says:

      Oh, I love peonies! We had them at our old house. Last year, we got one that popped up here. I don’t know how it got here. (I usually don’t know why most things happen that happen in my garden.) I hope it returns. 🙂 And that you share photos of your gorgeous flowers.

  2. Kate says:

    We are still brown brown brown and gray gray gray BUT I got my garden plot assignment and I’ve started telling Jesse my yard plan for the next few years. The last few days have been sorting and purging for our yard sale before the remodel starts (pushed by another month again, but grateful). Speaking of don’t blink, yesterday, in the sorting and purging, I found Abram’s home from the hospital hat in a box of old Barbies. No idea how it got there, but glad I found it.

    • Rita says:

      I can’t wait to see your remodel progress. We are also planning a yard sale for this spring, but we haven’t made any progress on it. Our garage is bursting. We’ve taken to calling it our design warehouse–like we’re designers who have a warehouse of things to draw upon. It’s really just the things that don’t fit in the house now that we’ve combined households. Again. Stuff, man. I’ve made so much progress with it, but still so far to go.

      I hope your brown brown brown and grey grey grey turn to green pink yellow violet blue very soon.

  3. Debs Carey says:

    There is something so uplifting about spring sunshine – I just love it. We spent a day in lovely parkland where they were hosting some living history types – everything from Napoleonic to Vietnam war. The reenactors were few in number, just enough to make interesting subjects for photography and to talk to, but not dominating the landscape of gorgeous mature trees. I’m pushing for a visit to our favourite gardens to fill up my cup with tulips. There was a gorgeous array of them last year and I’m hoping for the same again.

    Gorgeous photos, and such a lovely view from your table 🙂

    • Rita says:

      I agree with you about spring sunshine! I can’t get enough of it this year. Your park experience sounds fun. I’ve never been to an event with history re-enactors, but I think it’s a thing I’d like to see. And tulips: I love them, too. We have a lot of them in our front yard, courtesy of the previous owners. They are pretty glorious every year. I hope you get to fill your cup. 🙂

  4. Ally Bean says:

    Your garden photos are beautiful. You’ve created a lovely scene outside your front door. Just this last week it has turned into SPRING here. It’s like someone flipped a switch. However we are nowhere near as far along as you are. I promise to not blink when it happens.

    • Rita says:

      Thank you! We put a 3/4 light door in last summer, and it acts as a perfect frame for the flowering tree. Every time I walk down the hall toward the front of the house, it feels like I’m looking at a beautiful painting.

      And, I thought we were in high spring here, but we woke this morning to snow. There’s more than 2 inches, it’s still coming down, and school was just cancelled. After the past two years, this kind of not-normal is the new normal, so I’m just gonna roll with it!

  5. Kari says:

    I can see why you didn’t want to blink!

    I can’t wait for the flowers to blossom in our part of the country. But our lawn is getting greener, which makes me so happy.

    We went to a forest preserve yesterday that I’d wanted to see for two years, and it was amazing. It had waterfalls, creeks, and hills, and it was beautiful. I didn’t want to blink either.
    Kari recently posted…100 More Things I LoveMy Profile

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