Springtime delight...

It’s spring here in New England and that always brings a few things which I particularly look forward to. For instance, the crab apple trees on our property are in bloom now and their rosy magenta colored blossoms are always a welcome sight. In a couple of months the crab apples themselves will litter the ground and make walking the dog a treacherous expedition since they get squishy and slippery and work their way into the treads of our shoes and then finally get deposited in mushy little clumps on our floors. Yuck… But right now, the trees are beautiful and the branches are alive with birds energetically producing their own little operas.

Also, the real old apple tree outside the kitchen window is a particular delight. The tree is actually on the neighbor’s property, right in their gravel driveway in fact. That old apple tree is one of my favorite things. The neighbors sometimes curse the tree. I mean, it’s in their driveway (to the side, but still…). Also, during harvest time the apples drop off that tree onto the ground, making for very happy squirrels and lots of bees and yellow jackets, but very disgruntled owners because they have to deal with the fermenting detritus on the ground.

I live in fear that one day they will take that old tree down. I surely hope not for it has become a friend. First we get the lovely and fragrant pinkish white blossoms and then the leaves, which act as a leafy privacy screen in the summer and then come the apples themselves which impart a heady fragrance and it’s fun to watch the little apples develop and ripen into beautiful red globes. There are always lots of birds in that big ole tree and it usually sports a couple of frollicking squirrels at any given time, playing tag and doing gymnastics while they forage for food and then ‘shop’ for their winter stores…

Each spring the crab apples outside my studio window and in the backyard act as a temporary waystop and feeding ground for a pair or sometimes a couple of pairs of gaily colored Baltimore orioles travelling through from the south and heading north for the summer. I love to sit here typing and take a respite to watch them working among the luscious blossoms. It always brightens my day and lifts my spirits. They don't stay long. Just a couple of short weeks at most. Such beautiful golden orange and black birds they are…

This morning we had the windows open for a little while and I was treated to a joyous rhapsody of birdsong, all the more rapturous in contrast to the grim drizzly day this has become. I looked out the window and there were my orioles in the trees and now I know it’s truly spring and hope abounds…