A perfect spring

 

Every year, I think "Oh, the wind blew the blossoms off the radiant crab too soon", or "I wish that I'd noticed the trillium flowers earlier," or "the orioles are at the feeder for such a short time."
Every year I wish for more spring before the rains come or the winds blow, more time between the snow and the warmth of summer, more days and evenings when it's beautiful outside and the mosquitoes haven't hatched yet. Those changes would make for a perfect spring.

And yet, one of the important things about spring is that it is ephemeral. If the trilliums bloomed for weeks instead of days, we'd soon cease to notice them. If the orioles were at the grape jelly feeder all summer, that first flash of orange in the spring wouldn't be so breath taking. Wind and rain in the apple trees mean that I really have to smell the flowers every time I walk by. We pick asparagus stalks daily.

Spring in northern places is always breath taking and in some ways unbelievable. If we don't pay attention, it is gone before we realize it. A perfect spring is one that we appreciate, over and over again, as each flower blossoms, each bird passes through, and each insect appears, even the mosquitoes.