The Vibrance of Spring

                                                     

The colors of spring defy description, don't they!  I stumble around, trying to paint a scene with adjectives worthy of the space.  But all words seem, themselves, to pale against the chartreuse of the new leaves and the scarlets, the violets, the hot pinks, the intense blues of the flowers... 

Winter is finally shedding its bleak, often monochrome garb here, and spring is shouting its arrival.   Whether it be an impending storm as in the image above--taken this morning as I was heading out to milk Marigold--with the vibrant greens of grass paired with the ominous slate blue of the sky....

or a surprise tulip, forgotten, but oh so welcome --all by itself, which I discovered in the middle of my yard yesterday...!



...or the vast numbers of laughing violets that have volunteered everywhere and daily forgive me for my inability to find footing without trampling them...I remember to stoop down for a closer look at the incredible colors, and put my nose right into this Happy Spring drinking in the fragrances of life awakening!  The hyacinths are divine; and the Narcissus is candy-sweet; I spend time listening, too.  With the drumming of the pileated woodpecker echoing throughout our woods all day yesterday I fully expected to hear the sound of a crashing tree.  Other birds are declaring territory now.  I literally ran into a dove yesterday inside the chicken coop--twice--that has apparently decided that the seedy interior would make an ideal nesting spot.

I recognize all the returning avian friends.  Soon the many varieties of warblers will return:  the Cerulian, the Prothonotary, the Yellow-Rumped, the Blackburnian...and so many more too numerous to name!  The Scarlet Tanagers, Baltimore Orioles, the Wood Thrush, the Great Crested Flycatchers...and soon the songs that ring throughout the woods, will be a mixture of those birds that stayed and over-wintered and those that have returned from afar.  Being on the migratory route puts a whole new dimension on birdwatching and bird listening out here JOTOLR.

What a beautiful time of year it is!  Everything is in bloom or getting ready to bloom, nesting or getting ready to nest!  Indeed, it's our Appalachian Spring in full swing!