It’s sights like this one that make the long winter months worth it. I’ve never lived in a climate that was warm all year; in both Ohio and now New Hampshire, spring flowers like this Wake-robin (Trillium erectum, also known as Purple or Red Trillium) were on hand to reward those who survived winter’s snow and ice. Wake-robin would be beautiful to behold any time of year…but its delicate, thin leaves and perfectly formed yellow stamens seem even more poignant when you consider the freezes it withstood, embryonic, simply to sprout in spring.
There’s a certain touching awkwardness in the slow unfurling that is spring. I’ve seen many photos of spring fiddleheads…but the sight I love is that moment when their tightly-wound curls start to unwind into tiny chlorophyll-pumping fronds. At what moment does Fiddlehead become Fern? We all know the pleasure of a good long stretch after having sat cramped and sedentary for a spell; can we imagine the joy of ferny unfurling after a long winter underground, the joy of gradually opening a fist of tightly clenched frond-fingers?
Spring is an expansive time, the season of literal inspiration. After living tightly bundled for months, those of us who live in northern New England are unwrapping and emerging, exposing tender toes and milk-white arms to a sun they haven’t seen in months. There’s a certain touching awkwardness in that moment when winter clothes get shed for spring. Spring feels like an emotional as well as physical emergence, a time when gray gloomy moods dissipate into the light of day. Winter eyes look down, watching one’s step as hats and hoods shelter and hide one’s head from cruel cold. Spring eyes look about unhindered, head held erect into the thrill that is a warm, gentle breeze.
In spring, nearly anything seems possible. All winter long, pointy beech buds have marked the ends of twigs like tiny orange cigars. In spring, these tight tips elongate and droop pendant, their scales expanding telescopically around the lengthening scrap of green that will be leaf. In a world where tightly compact buds transform seemingly overnight into tender greenery, can anything be impossible? How tough must a bud be to withstand winter’s frigid chill, and how remarkable the change from insensate scale to life-brimming foliage!
Flowers, ferns, and leaves aren’t the only things to emerge of late. On Friday while walking the dog at Goose Pond, I saw the first of the season’s black flies newly emerged from aquatic pupation. When they first emerge, black flies swarm but do not yet bite, so Friday might have been the last spring hike I’ll take without the benefit insect repellent and (yes) mosquito netting. In the yin-yang that is nature, one thing emerges and another goes into hiding. Tender exposed flesh is mighty tasty to egg-laying black flies, so bite-sensitive creatures like me do best to keep it covered during the buggy month of May.
May 1, 2005 at 8:33 am
I hear ya, sistah! I can’t stand the Mayflies!!! The flowers are oh so beautiful, though…I love that last picture.
If you want some majorly gorgeous flower pictures, come on down to the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens. The Cherry Esplanade is just beyond description…it’s always gorgeous on Mother’s Day.
BTW…I sent the donation card to my mother! Thanks for that FABULOUS idea!
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May 1, 2005 at 8:47 am
Best baby pictures ever.
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May 1, 2005 at 9:56 am
How tough a New Englander must be, too! (And all others living in places with long cold winters.) Great post!
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May 1, 2005 at 10:29 am
I took some amazing picture of the flora in my inlaws yard in Florida. I will post them soon. I thought of you as I was taking them! LOL
Great shots!
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May 1, 2005 at 2:26 pm
Your writing continues to amaze me. This tribute to spring is delightful, thoughtful, and knowledgeable. I also appreciate your generosity, timeliness, and dedication to excellence in the tradition of the writers you mention in your journal. Your site is one of the best when it comes to nature, place, and prose. Thank you.
Jade
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May 2, 2005 at 8:42 pm
Panthergirl, I don’t think I’ve ever *been* to the Brooklyn Botanical Garden. I guess that means a trip to the Big Apple is in order so I can check it out! 🙂
(And thanks for preferring that last pic. Although it isn’t as immediately stunning as the first one, the last picture was so much more *difficult* to take. I must have snapped a half dozen shots to get *one* that turned out: the rest looked like blurry caterpillars!)
Joan, “baby pictures” describes it exactly! 🙂
Leslee, you hit something on the head that I meant to touch on in that post: the thought that winter makes New Englanders tough & crotchedy, so in spring we have to “melt” a little to enjoy the easier weather. If you’re used to steeling yourself against the cold, it’s a shock to face mild, pleasant weather.
Bari, I’m so glad you got pix of Florida flora. I can’t wait to see them!
Wow, Jade…thanks for the kind words. I think you just made my day! 🙂
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May 3, 2005 at 7:20 pm
I am sick for the blooming of trilliums! I’ve been going out everyday to will them on, and then it snowed today. Bah!
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May 4, 2005 at 12:01 pm
Although it would be *unusual* to get snow here in NH in May, I still haven’t taken my snowshoes out of the back of my car. I don’t want to jinx anything until I’m *sure* spring & summer are here to stay!
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May 5, 2005 at 6:43 am
what can i say that hasn’t already been said? Those photos are just gorgeous! And the writing with them…perfect! It’s just all so true, not only do the flowers need the spring thaw, but we humans do too! The whole community seems to go from grey, grumpiness in the winter to bright colourful cheeriness in the spring! its great!
And those wonderful photos are just thing to cheer up a grey English day here! thank you!
take care
rach
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May 5, 2005 at 11:03 am
Oooh, I hope you’re surviving those grey English days! Right now it’s sunny & mild out…and I should be grading! 🙂 It’s really great that you visited Keene in Spring semester since you got to see a combination of snowy winter & beautiful spring. The only thing you missed was the fall colors & PUMPKINS! 🙂
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