For The First Time…

in forever I feel complete joy looking at the two Magnolia trees blooming in the backyard. Chartreuse green leaves are poking out from behind the pink and white petals blowing off in the wind. The grass that was mauled, chomped, and destroyed during the reno has been replaced with lush green grass, prettier than I ever remembered it, thanks to the husbands diligence in planting grass seed before a heavy snowfall (ask him, I thought he was nuts).

My lilac tree is just about to burst into a riot of purple flowers. I thought it was a miracle considering the tree had to withstand three physical moves last year. Then again any old abandoned farm house usually has a lilac tree thriving somewhere outside of it. I recently read lilacs and rhubarb pretty much outlive everything, and probably would survive a nuclear holocaust. So, yeah, the rhubarb has riz and I’ve stored some in the freezer already and I’m ready to decorate with the lilacs when they fully bloom. Even the herbs that weren’t supposed to last another year have returned and look amazing. The peonies are getting taller, ready to burst and the new service berry trees have tiny white flowers all over, set against the sage-y green house the effect is spectacular.

So the point I’m trying to make is after a SAD winter and a seemingly endless two year adjustment to crack varietals and a life devoted to sardonicism, I can finally see colour and take joy in what’s around me again. This only works if you don’t look at the dog’s footprints on the recently cleaned wooden floor and the cat hair/dust balls in the sunlight. You have to look beyond that stuff toward the outdoors through the glass with your eyes squinted up so it’s just wonderful blurry colour.

Now if we could just get the outdoor temperature up so we can put away our woolies and turtlenecks and not fear a killer frost it would feel like an authentic spring awakening.