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Monday 2 June 2014

Good Morning


Here, we do green.  

The delicate, watercolour foliage of April and May in June gives way to a lushness that can only be described as voluptuous.  Our mild, wet springs bring life to every inch of soil and early summer finds the landscape a tapestry composed of a million shades of green.

Along the river, big leaf maple trees cast broad leafed shade across the pathways where I stroll, their huge leaves nodding in the breeze and lit from behind to make a pattern more glorious than any stained glass masterpiece humankind can craft.

Cedar, fir, spruce, balsam, and yew each bring their individual hues and textures to the deeper wood.  At their feet, the licorice ferns unfurl, tall green feathers, bowing gracefully to honour the filtered sunlight.  Named for the flavour of their roots, these ferns were a childhood treat of mine.  It charmed me that I could pull one from the ground and find the taste of candy.  I love them still, although now more for their appearance than their flavour.

In the yards and public gardens I pass on my way home, expanses of lawn unroll like rich green velvet, the blank canvas into which bright flowerbeds are placed in careful composition.  They are framed by tall green hedges and overlooked by rhododendrons now showing the last of their blooms among strong, leathery green leaves.  

Ivy twines up tree trunks and over rock, and wisteria and laburnum drip from trellises.  Who knew the humble pea could aspire to such greatness?

Even the cracks in the sidwalks sprout green: tough tufts of grass and plantain and, in the shade, every surface eventually pulls a blanket of soft moss up around its chin.

As I look at all that green I think "calm" because it soothes my spirit just to look at it.  I think "rich" for what greater wealth could there possibly be than this?  I think "grateful" because I am.

I hope that your Monday is off to a happy start and that you find a moment or two to pause and enjoy your surroundings.  Have a joyful day.