Nature’s annual message of hope

“Silently, one by one, in the infinite meadows of heaven, blossomed the lovely stars, the forget-me-nots of the angels.” Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

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All around, trees are blossoming. Up and down the roads surrounding my office, the trees are showing off their finest pinks, delicate petals proclaiming that spring has finally beaten winter.

I love the annual reminder that winter is only for a season. It seems that each year, just as it seems winter has set in for good, glimmers of spring appear. Slowly. First, a bud. There’s a long way to go, but there’s a whisper of hope in the air.

The bud grows. Day by day it becomes bigger as the blossom inside prepares for its moment. If you look closely, you can see hints of what is to come as the bud bursts at its seams.

And then one day you wake up and there, in all its glory, is a tree shimmering with blossom.

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It doesn’t last forever. This display of breathtaking colours will depart all too soon, leaving nothing but memories and brown petals on the pavement.

But each year we know that despite the depths of winter, spring will triumph, announcing itself in a burst of colour.

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“What a strange thing! To be alive beneath cherry blossoms.” Kobayashi Issa