Spring has been quite reticent in blossoming this year, as I personally cannot remember another spring break where it rained the entire time, nor can I recall snow... in Oregon... in March. Spring in Utah is quite a different matter - we are perfectly used to a spring that teases and taunts us until all the students have finished their finals at BYU, one minute peeking out of the quad in front of the Harold B. Lee Library in glorious, flowery swaths of color, the next minute rebuking me for boxing up all my sweaters with an indignant mountain snow shower. 
Spring is a flirt in Utah, playing hide-and-seek with late winter until suddenly, it's May and summer whisks away the verdant blush of the innocent maiden that we were hoping to beguile just once to stay with us for more than a week. Utah springs are capricious. I didn't think, though, that Oregon springs were so shy.
This one has been, though.
I groaned in sympathy each morning of spring break that I woke up and heard the rain on the roof (that was seven days of groaning). Heck, I haven't had a spring break since I was 17 (and oh, what a fun spring break it was!), but still - it doesn't mean the kids in school shouldn't have a great time just because I'm stuck in an office cubicle struggling to answer impossible questions while also short-staffed due to my favorite coworker being at Disneyland with his daughter. How dull it must have been without even one sunshiny day to break up the misty gray monotony! And it wasn't even warm raininess - oh, no. It was mid-fifties crappy weather.
The icky snow finally passed, and crocuses, the delicate harbinger of spring, poked their heads out of the soggy soil to greet the leaden skies. We even got a few days of tentative sun! I burst forth with a camera, capturing the wonder and the reasons why Kenny's eyes were suddenly so unbearably itchy (aside from the cats' constant, nagging presence, ha!).
The culprit: pussy willow!
Crocuses - here they are!
The purple-y carpet I've been longing for:
And even some yellow:
Politely lining the front walk:
And then the daffodils began to show their golden faces:
Even the backyard pond fronds are beginning to bud:
And finally, the trees begin to bloom!
On the way to Tigard, just before turning onto Hall Boulevard from Boones Ferry Road:
98th Avenue and Avery Street, in front of the new Tualatin Elementary School:
I found a magnolia tree on 98th Ave with its big floppy flowers still in bloom:
Even my glaringly white legs got their first glimpse of sun on a beautifully warm Saturday morning. Ahhh - Coke Zero, a book, and somewhere sunny to sit. What could be better? Oh, yeah - a tan!
I had to stalk the Presbyterian Church on Boones Ferry Road on my way home from choir practice - the cherry trees were just begging for a photo shoot!
We used to go to Girl Scout meetings right here!
At home:
Our favorite Tualatin tree - "Megan's tree," as Mom and Jim call it, the tree that sits right in the middle of the other side of Avery Street, in glorious bloom!
Even our house is experiencing a rebirth of spring green - Mom and Jim are experimenting with house paint and something new - what do you think? I like the bright, cheerful green - it's sprightly!
The tulips like the color - as soon as the new color was decided on, they literally budded! I am feeling very Dutch right now.
And, as I took a walk this Saturday, I couldn't help but sing a beloved Primary song to myself as its embodiment enveloped me - "I looked out the window and what did I see? Popcorn popping on the apricot tree! Spring had brought me such a nice surprise, popcorn popping right before my eyes!"
I'm waiting for a few more of those springy surprises - warmer temperatures! A whole week without rain! Come on, spring - don't be so shy! Sneak up behind us while we keep our umbrellas and rain boots close and take us unawares! I'm carrying my beautiful Venice-inspired umbrella, thoughtful and creative gift from Megan, with me all week. NOW is the time, spring, to laugh in my face and defy me with puddles of sunshine!
I dare you to.
7 comments:
SPRING!!! I think it's here to stay in Utah, where everything's flowering. I must disagree and point out, though, that EVERY spring break in Oregon was drenched in rain. We just don't remember because we spent so many in California on band trips and such. The only people who came back to school with tans got them from out of state.
And i'll confess I can't remember why Mom & Jim call that "Megan's tree." Is there a story behind that?
Okay, I'll agree that every spring break in Oregon had rain, but not EVERY single day! I remember going to Old Navy for the first time during eighth grade's spring break with Mom, and it wasn't raining that day! And remember the day we went over to Ammon's house to watch "Space Balls" during what I THINK was junior year's spring break? That day was sunny!
Mom and Jim call that tree "Megan's tree" because it's your favorite tree and when we were gone away from home at BYU, you'd always ask about it each spring! I love each day when I drive by it or down Avery Street toward it, because even though I'm not on that side of Avery, I can still SEE it, with it's puffy pink flowers peeking over Boones Ferry Road.
What do you think of the paint?
Yeah, Megan, what do you think of the paint?? I love it!! That house will look so fresh - it is such a different shade of green and I've been plotting that green for months. I keep seeing it around town, now, so I'm not the only one who is loving it apparently.
Katie - what wonderful pictures!!!
Paint: very modern and fresh!!! I love it. Are you keeping the trim? I think it would look great either way.
My favorite trees are actually the thre or four that line the path abutting Dad's neighborhood off of Boones Ferry--they turn such brilliant shades of red in the fall! But I also love the turnaround tree. Now I'm all confused.
Spring break at The Capes.
Days of rain interspersed with days of sunshine.
Just sayin'...
Somebody must have told the weeds it is Spring as they are bloody everywhere!
This spring was the worst in recent years. But I have resigned myself to the fact that it doesn't become nice for more than a couple days until August. Sigh.
Meredith -- don't blink! Saturday and Sunday are going to be NICE!!! Don't miss it!
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