17 April 2013 - Fruitless

April is such a fickle month. We started out with wonderful warm days. We have even mowed some of the lawns--twice. Last weekend it got cold and snowed on us for a few days. It didn't stick for very long. Even today it snowed. Big flakes. I lay in bed and watched the snowflakes drifting through the apricot tree. The tree had just started blooming so the snow filtering through the branches made it look as though the petals were falling.  Between the snow and our forecast for a hard freeze tonight my best guess is there will be no apricots this year.

Jack and I ran some errands that took us down into the valley today. Once off our hill you could really see that spring has arrived. All the early trees were in full bloom: purple plums, pink cherries, white pears punctuated by bright yellow forsythia. Daffodils, tulips, grape hyacinths galore.  Lots of purple, pink and red creeping phlox in large mounds. The big trees are surrounded by an aura of green. I could hardly drive for looking. I love this time of year! 

There is a small house with a huge yard that is always filled with spring flowers. We passed it today and I had to stop. The early red tulips are almost gone, but the grape hyacinths were gorgeous. In the sun they are electric! This picture isn't even a tenth of the yard. It is a wonderful sight. Makes me want to plant them in my lawn and let them take over, but the deer love them. Drat.

 

It was bright and sunny down in the valley. Looking back up at the mountains, the sky was gray, clouds lowering over the peaks, most likely snowing. Typical April dichotomy. 


Yet another strange dichotomy for April is that today is the anniversary of my father's death, and yesterday Bennett's.  Such sadness in the middle of this exuberant rebirth.  My very cynical self grouses about death and taxes, but my less cynical side thinks that maybe April is a good time to remember and reflect as it is hard to wallow in sorrow when the world is erupting into this joyous explosion called Spring.