Spring is in Bloom

Spring is here

Well, the record-setting temperatures (81 degrees) in March, may not have quite followed into April.  But none-the-less, springtime is officially here and that can only mean one thing: flowers are in bloom.

A stroll through the side streets of the East Side of Providence turns quickly into a tour of lush purple and white orchids soaking in the early morning sun.

While out and about, usually in the morning hours, before folks are heading out to work and the local coffee shop flips its lights on signaling it is finally open for business (yes, that's early), I snap a few pictures. A few through the sunlight, a few through the fog, a few at the sky and at the flowers, all with my simple iPhone.

But what is captured on (digital) is truly amazing.  It makes the spring time, I would have to say, my favorite time of the year.

I'll always remember walking through the Los Padres National Forest and Malibu Canyon after the devastating fires of 1993-94. There was so many burned trees and shrubs and brush, but in the midst of the blackened, still actually smoldering in parts, forest, were signs that mother nature was still in charge. Little buds and beautiful flowers were growing up and sprout amid the charcoal remnants. It was beautiful.

And the same with the passage from winter to spring in New England, where winters can be rough and very harsh. The first sign of a robin has always been a great indication that warmer days are ahead. But to me, seeing that first shade of pink, those first buds of the tulips sprouting from the ground, is a great reminder that spring is here.

JRS