Springtime in the Neighborhood

Wisteria in bloom.

The greenery has been unfolding around us at an amazing speed this year. Each time I look up, I believe the leaves are fuller, the trees' shapes are more rounded, and new flowers are in bloom.


Our neighbors graze quietly beneath the trees.

For the most part I do not think to pull out the camera to record the sights, at least not until I have passed them by, but some days the camera sits at the ready, willing and able to record spring's progress. Since my camera, the one with which I am most familiar, is on the lam--still, many shots are throwaways. Blurred beyond recognition, or too dark or light, they do not bear saving for future use.

The irises that I divided two autumns back, then moved to new spots along the driveway, are blooming along the old fenceline. They see me off and welcome me home, and I think to snap their likeness about the time my car has pulled up through the front gate and parked alongside the iris bed. But by then the shot is marred by the presence of the car or truck, so each day passes without the irises' blooms recorded. (Indeed, for some months I was convinced that these plants would never bloom again, but each stem sports multiple ruffled, bearded blooms this month.)

Lucy enjoys a new delivery of thistles spread across a bunk of long-ignored grain.

Perhaps the best part of spring, though, is the return of fresh forage after a long winter of hay, hay, and more hay. Indeed, the horses do so enjoy the juicy thistle plants I cut for them, that they have taken to passing up grain in favor of the prickly plants. (Yes, they do get out to graze on green pasture, but their shelter is back in the mudlot so they occasionally return to that paddock for a time.)

After so many months of inadequade forage, it's a pleasure to watch the animals enjoying fodder as it unfurls beneath their feet or along so many branches. Welcome, Spring!