Tuesday, April 13, 2021

Spring's Ache

 


 "Spring won't et me stay in this house any longer! I must get out and breathe the air deeply again."
Gustav Mahler

Outside my window just now a tiny Anna's Hummingbird flits about the cedar hedge. Tree and hedges sway in the wind. I know it's a chilly wind in spite of the bright sunshine for I was outside thinking I might garden this morning. I think I'll wait until later. A glorious week of warmth and sunny skies is in our forecast, and I couldn't be happier. 

Hendersons Shooting Stars (dodecatheon hendersonii) bloom in a naturalized lawn we pass on our evening walk. They look as though they are ready to take off into the wild blue yonder. 


In the woods just a bit further along, Fawn Lilies (erythronium oregonum) look like stars facing downwards. Most of the ones I see are white, but there are pink and yellow varieties, as well. 


Taking a photo like this requires crouching low to the ground, and I use the tilt feature on my camera to view it. 

Both the shooting star and the fawn lily are native to North America. The shooting star occurs naturally on southern Vancouver Island, the only place it's found in Canada. 

"Spring is nature's way of saying, "Let's party!"
Robin Williams


In my own garden this morning there are many promises being made. Lilacs and columbines form tight buds, blueberries will soon flower, and irrepressible mint is making a great come back from dormancy. Lemon Balm, strawberries, cornflowers and more are bursting with life. Soon there will be an explosion!


"Pretty? Oh, pretty doesn't seem to be the right word to use. Nor beautiful, either. They don't go far enough. Oh, it was wonderful - wonderful. It's the first thing I ever saw that couldn't be improved upon by imagination. It just satisfies me here" - she put one hand on her breast - "it made a queer funny ache and yet it was a pleasant ache. Did you ever have an ache like that, Mr. Cuthbert?"
said by Anne in L. M. Montgomery's Anne of Green Gables


I go out of my way to see this tree on my walks. It's awash with swoon-worthy blooms. This is its high season, lush with soft white and barely pink petals. I can't get enough of it. Like Anne above, it makes my heart ache with its beauty. 

"The books or the music in which we thought the beauty was located will betray us if we trust to them; it was not in them, it only came through them, and what came through them was longing...

For they are not the thing itself; they are only the scent of a flower we have not found, the echo of a tune we have not heard, news from a country we have not yet visited." 
C. S. Lewis (The Weight of Glory)

This ache of beauty, this longing, reminds me that we are spiritual beings with a desire for something beyond ourselves - for God. It reminds me that that I am merely human. 


One last prunus branch reaching up in evening light to the sky. It's truly a wonderful world, complex and full of brokenness, but utterly magical. Spring magic is some of the very best there is. 

What kind of promises is spring making in your corner? 

26 comments:

  1. Your photos are definitely all swoon worthy. Lovely to think you’re going to have the right weather to enjoy it all for a few days. Blue skies here too and the apple tree is coming into blossom. Happy days :) B x

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  2. Each of these pictures are sure signs of spring and I love them all. Right now, the only sign of spring is a late snowfall, but that will melt soon enough.

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  3. Oh how nice. So much Spring beauty here delicate and full, too. We are definitely behind you as far as Spring blooms go. Hope you have a good week.

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  4. These are so beautiful! Thank you for documenting it!
    "swoon-worthy blooms" indeed! Especially after out winter...

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  5. Oh my word, Lorrie, what glorious photos you’ve taken for our enjoyment!! Wow, that tree is bursting with blossoms! I can see why you can’t get enough of it. You certainly live in a beautiful world.

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  6. Spring is trying hard to show its beauty here. The cold snaps and wind make them seem so brave. I wish we would warm up faster here. God's gifts in all these flowers and spring time is surely a comfort and joy to me.

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  7. Such gorgeous pictures. I like Anne's description. I finally got around to watching Anne with an E. I've been meaning to for ages but now I've made a beginning. ( It's hard to stay indoors when it's Spring outside).

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  8. Oh yes, that ache wells up in our souls when we encounter such beauty. Your photos are exquisite, Lorrie, and the lines of poetry sing sweetly alongside.

    I went for my walk and today, I'm delighted to report, I saw sightings of green in our front bed in front of the house. I'm so excited. Days are warming and so are the nights. At last.

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  9. The cherry blossoms are gorgeous!

    Sign of spring: I heard the landscapers' blowers at 7:30 in the morning!

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  10. That is a wonderful quote to expand on your own comments that convey "the feeling"... All of these beautiful things fill us with joy that is too much too hold, almost, but at the same time is not ultimately satisfying -- and then the flowers fade, and leave another version of the ache.

    Thank you, Lorrie! Your photos are wonderful.

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  11. Lorrie - beautiful prose and the photos to go with it. My husband and I watched the series Anne with an "e" and I can just hear the actress saying that quote. Yes, I can feel it. We are still quite a ways behind you - only a couple of plants - strawberries and nodding onions - are showing any sign of life ... I feel the itch to get out in the garden, but it would be a recipe for frustration right now - I know better from past experience!

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  12. Your words and some of the quotes were a delight drawing a picture of Spring, the added photos added to the charm and brought your words to life. Beautiful post.

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  13. That’s a beautiful post! As I can’t go outside and can’t do anything in the garden at the moment your photos make me dream! I love the flowers SO beautiful and the trees in bloom are fantastic photos.
    Thank you for taking me outside.

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  14. How beautiful it is Lorrie. The star flowers are beautiful, and how special they only grow in your part of Canada. I can see why you want to walk by those cherry blossoms, which are just heavenly. I have experienced Spring in Canada twice, and loved it so much. I also walked just to find pink blossoming trees, as well as lilacs. They made my heart ache with joy too, just like Anne. These days I sometimes have another heart ache, one which says 'will I ever go to Canada again?' Hoping Ontario's lockdown is working for my daughter.

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  15. I enjoyed this post immensely. The floral beauty is indescribable!

    We have been averaging a day a week fit to be out and about so we’ve been walking on an indoor track. We are fortunate there is one in the community but ugh!

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  16. Spring looks beautiful where you live. Here in Florida we bloom year round. The weather is getting a little more balmy and we had our first rain storm in months the other day.

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  17. Yes, it is all so beautiful. Thank goodness that you are a photographer who captures it all so expertly.

    Here? Well the plants have broken ground and the forsythia is blooming.

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  18. Ohhhh happpy sighhhhh.....

    Such a lovely, lyrical post... With achingly beautiful photos... And the perfect quotes/poetry...

    I can not add anything else.

    I simply Thank You! for this amazing post.

    -happy sigh-

    🌿🌷🌱🌷🌿

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  19. I feel this ache, too!

    In my world my Cleveland Pear is in full bloom! Very beautiful. My neighbors forsythia and weeping cherry trees are a gift to look at.

    I’ve been potting up lovely flowers, keeping an eye on overnight temperatures, so far they’ve been good. If they get too low, I’ll cover the pots or bring them in overnight.

    My maple trees are beginning to bring forth their seeds, the kids call them helicopters. They won’t drop them until late May, though. The turn of the seasons always reminds me to be thankful to the Lord for such beauty in such a troubled world.

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  20. Spring makes me feel so happy - my yellow erythronium pagoda are now in flower too. How beautiful your baby pink blossom is offset against that pretty blue sky - perfect.

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  21. So beautiful! I took some similar pictures on this afternoon’s walk... I wish your beautiful words were something I could capture with my camera and call my own ! A lovely post.

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  22. Indescribable beauty! Isn’t spring just the best?

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  23. Beautiful photos, fruit tree blossoms are a favorite spring flower. Until they bloom, it doesn't feel like spring.

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  24. Lorrie, for the short time I have been following you, this is the most beautiful of all your posts. And, that is really a statement as they are all so special and lovely. The photos in this post are so pretty and the quotes and words are magnificent. Especially what was said by Lucy Maud Montgomery. An outstanding post you should be most proud of.

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  25. Such a beautiful post Lorrie. Your blossom photos are especially gorgeous....and your words of course are perfect too.

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  26. What a stunning tree and wonderful photos, so enjoying visiting my friends again as we begin to come out of lockdown it feels as if the long hibernation is over at last. Wishing you a wonderful weekend.
    Maggie @ Turning the page

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