Signs of Spring

I learned many things while living in England, and there are many ways living there changed me.  One of those ways is my knowledge of flower bulbs and awareness of the new green shoots peeking out of the frozen earth.  They're a sign that even on the coldest, darkest days things are happening in the dark.  During the short winter days in North Yorkshire, I learned to keep time with the coming spring by watching first the snowdrops, then the crocuses, and finally the daffodils arrive.

I'm not sure how the planting of all these bulbs everywhere began; it feels like a vast conspiracy of flowers to an outsider like me.  It's not just that people have them in their gardens.  They are everywhere!

And it doesn't stop with the spring!  But we'll leave the bluebells for another time.

This morning there are great big fat snowflakes drifting down outside my window.  But Sunday night as I walked to my door after church, I noticed some green shoots peeking out of the flowerbeds, and I got excited.  Because spring is coming.

"Deep in their roots, all flowers keep the light."

- Theodore Roethke -