Miss Peony donned

petticoats the color of

ivory moonbeams.

While the Lady Pink

Azalea stippled her frills

with touches of red.

Sky blue clematis

opened up with touches of

luscious purpleness.

Alas Lady Rose

was not to be out shined by

none so fair as she.

Yet nothing is more

lovely than a small blossomed

cluster of sunshine.

“And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin.  Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these.  If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?  So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’. . .Your heavenly Father knows that you need them.”  ~Matthew 6:28-32

And Spring arose on the garden fair,
Like the Spirit of Love felt everywhere;
And each flower and herb on Earth’s dark breast
rose from the dreams of its wintry rest.
~Percy Bysshe Shelley

What a fine spring indeed has risen on “the garden fair!”  Trees and shrubs that delighted us early on with their lovely flowering are now leafing out, more and more roses splits their buds each day, and a particularly perky, pink snapdragon standing tall looks like the scepter of an invisible sovereign reigning over all the other glorious pinkness.  One such pretty is a “surprise” pink poppy that appeared near one of the climbing pink roses.  From whence or where this poppy came, I know not, but a welcome guest it is all the same.  Pink Gerbera daisies are still going strong, and the leafing cherry tree continues to don its delicate pink blossoms.

[Beloved] My lover has gone down to his garden, to the beds of spices, to browse in the gardens and to gather lilies.  ~Song of Solomon 6:2   ✝

With blossom purple and imperious

she beckons me, mauve, mysterious,

and draws me to her, mute and serious,

and wonderful and wild, wisterious.

~Gershon Hepner

Every spring I look forward to the pendulous racemes of purple deliciousness which fall from wisteria vines.   Their loveliness delights not only my eyes and nose with lavish pleasure but also my soul.  However, only the visual glory of wisteria can be imprisoned with my camera lens.  Sadly, to date I’ve not found a way to capture the sweet aroma that permeates the space all around the vines.  As it wafts outward on any available puff of air, the wondrously luscious fragrance intoxicates me and invites the constant hum of hungry bees.  If the nectar in them tastes as good as its flowers smell, what a delectable feast it must be for adoring insect paramours!  Besides their exquisite form and awesome aroma, wisteria blossoms are a mixture of rich deep purple and delicate light purple, an intriguing combination of red and blue that speaks of romance and passion.  Purple, long associated with nobility and spirituality, is said to have a “special, almost sacred place in nature,” and so it does in my garden or wherever I find it.  One author has even declared that “the spiritual and mystical qualities of purple satisfy the need for reassurance in a complex world, while adding a hint of mystery and excitement.”

May your inner eye see through the surfaces

And glean the real presence of everything that meets you.

May your soul beautify the desire of your eyes

That you might glimpse the infinity that hides

In the simple sights that seem worn to your usual eyes.

~John O’Donohue

Awake, north wind, and come, south wind!  Blow on my garden, that its fragrance may spread abroad.  Let my lover come into his garden and taste its choice fruits. ~Song of Solomon 4:16

There be delights that will fetch the day about from sun to sun
and rock the tedious year as in a delighted dream. . .
It’s man’s bit of gaudy make-believe–his well-designed fiction
of an unvexed Paradise. . . a world where gayety knows no eclipse. . .
~John D. Sedding

And what delights “there be” to erase the tedium of winter!  They not only fetch the day but human hearts as well.  The deliciousness that started a few weeks ago is now beginning to enlarge and explode into the making of what Sedding called an “unvexed Paradise.”  Joy bubbles up from the heart of Creation to greet and honor the Christ so that it truly is “a world where gayety knows no eclipse.”  As earth spreads glorious sacraments on ancient and sacred altars, what is proffered there will sustain Creation for yet another year. Evidence of the Maker is evident at every turn, and each of our senses provide ways of knowing the Holy One who hovers close and loves what He has made.  In the temple of earth, sea, and sky, we see what His spoken word has done; in the temple of our soul we feel the stirring of His presence; and in the temple of our body we hear His heartbeat in the beating of our human hearts.  From the temple of fertile fields, we taste earth’s fruits, and in the temple of our minds, we are impacted by the touch of God’s grace and mercy.  So come, Lord Jesus, come, and in your coming cleanse us, renew our strength, and take us to the foot of Your cross to witness the agony and the ecstasy of Your magnanimous sacrifice.  Hosanna in the highest, Christ has risen and He, the Messiah, lives!  Together and through us the Father and His Son walk the earth while the Holy Spirit dwells within us.

“. . . Let us acknowledge the LORD; let us press on to acknowledge him.  As surely as the sun rises, he will appear; he will come to us like the winter rains, like the spring rains that water the earth.” ~Hosea 6:3  ✝

In this sequestered nook how sweet
To sit upon my orchard seat
And birds and flowers once more to greet
~William Wordsworth

Earlier this week I ventured out to the local nursery to buy some potting soil, and when I turned into the nursery’s parking lot, what greeted my eyes nearly took my breath away.  Peach trees, pear trees, plum trees–you name the fruit bearer and it was there.  And not just a few of them; there must have been hundreds of fruit-bearing trees, and all were in full bloom.  In and around the blossoms the hum of the bee was to the ear what their scent was to the nose and what their sight was to the eyes–in short, what I experienced that day was a veritable feast for the senses.  Spring’s coming is authenticated not simply by changes in the weather or a repositioning of the sun but by eyes intoxicated with incredible beauty, by noses bewitched by sweet aromas, by mouths tempted by scrumptious delights, by touch fascinated with textures, and by ears mesmerized by arias, grand and glorious.

See! The winter is past; the rains are over and gone.  Flowers appear on the earth; the season of singing has come, the cooing of doves is heard in our land.  ~Song of Solomon 2:11-12

The year’s at the spring and day’s at the morn;
Morning’s at seven; the hillside’s dew-pearled;
The lark’s on the wing; the snail’s on the thorn;
God’s in His heaven – all’s right with the world!
~Robert Browning

My backyard habitat has no larks, at least none that I know of, but it does sustain quite a few mockingbirds, woodpeckers, cardinals, robins, doves, sparrows and wrens.  Some of my birds overwinter here, but the others only begin to show up as spring draws near.  It is then, as the numbers increase and nests are being built, that Browning’s poem comes back to play in the foreground of my memory.  I’ve always been taken with the striking imagery in his poem and find it fascinating that in less than 50 words he not only painted a portrait of the quintessential spring day but he also acknowledged where God is and what that means for Creation.

While watching my feathered companions go about their busyness I often like to give life to Browning’s verse, but when I do, I have to be careful not to utter the words above the faintest of whispers.  In order to keep from being seen as well, I have to remain hidden under the massive leafiness of the rose-covered arch over my back porch.  Because it has always been harder to lure the cardinals in close enough for good snapshots, I recently bought a feeder designed especially for them, placed it closer to my porch, and filled it with what the experts said would entice them to come.  Naturally I was thrilled when on the first day I saw not only one but two males and their mates eyeing the new feeder.  Being the wary creatures they are, however, before dining they perched in nearby trees and waited to see if there were any lurking predators or pesky photographers around.  Shhhhh!!!  Here they are again!

“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes?  Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?. . .”  ~Matthew 6:25-26

To find the universal elements enough; to find the air and the water exhilarating; to be refreshed by a morning walk or an evening saunter; to be thrilled by the stars at night; to be elated over a bird’s nest or a wildflower in spring — these are some of the rewards of the simple life.  ~John Burroughs

Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning. . .  ~Lamentations 3:22-23  ✝