They're Back!!!

Jack-in-a-Pulpit

Spring brings forth a succession of new arrivals. Early harbingers of the season, such as robins, crocuses, and bright yellow forsythia flowers cheer the season on. Next, a wave of color in the form of tulips, daffodils, and red bud and dogwood blossoms continue to decorate the landscape. Hardwood trees bud and seemingly instantaneously burst forth into a sea of green. Towards the latter part of the season, Jack-in-a-Pulpit plants unfurl and raise their showy heads, the insides first striped in yellowish green and later turning to a deep purple striation. May apples, which as kids we called umbrella plants, because that's what they look like!, now have showy white flowers underneath their bright green umbrella leaves.

Spring provides a feast for our senses - sight, sound, scent, tactile, and taste. The awakening, colorful plants are such a sight for sore eyes to see after the stark, gray winter. There is no sweeter song than the melodious trill of the wood thrush. These songsters have returned to our woods, enchanting us in the early morning hours and at dusk with their throaty, beautiful arias. Last night, we also witnessed the return of the little brown bats as they soared and swirled above in their quest to catch and consume as many insects as their bellies could hold. Their amazing sonar power keeps them from colliding into one another as they swerve through the night sky.

Kevin was feeling a bit under the weather the other day, so I cooked up a pot of homemade chicken noodle soup for him. I added a few young garlic mustard leaves to the soup stock, enhancing it's flavor with their warm, savory flavor. It's a good way to make use of an abundant invasive species that otherwise is quite a pest plant! Violet flowers are an excellent source of vitamin C. Sometimes, when we are out on our walks, we pick a few and eat them right then and there. They also add a lovely decorative touch to cupcakes, too!

And, who doesn't love the sweet scent of honeysuckle as it wafts by on a spring breeze! Our driveway is lined with honeysuckle bushes. A walk down the drive is like a walk through a tunnel of the sweetest aroma. Birds flit back and forth among the honeysuckle bushes, enjoying the cover they provide.

Young ferns, now uncurled from their fiddle heads, are so velvety soft to the touch. Lightly brushing your hand over the light green fronds is such a pleasant sensation.

Our awakening landscape in Springtime, in it's many successive stages, revives all of our senses. Awareness becomes heightened. The beauty all around beckons us to come out of our winter time shells and once again feel fully alive.

Honeysuckle