Thunder

I slept with the windows open last night. As the sun rose I heard the neighbors rooster clearly for the first time since the windows shut last Thanksgiving. How nice to lay in bed and listen to the morning birds. As the sun rose it looked to be a warm sunny day. My gardens look so beautiful in the early morning light.

My Trillium are blooming.

I was thinking I may be able to go work in the community garden after all. I looked at the mountain towards Boone and thought, how dark and grey the sky looked above the hills, then I heard the thunder....Finn wanted back inside immediately after he heard the clap. For a dog that loves to swim he sure is wimpy about the rain.

Just as well, we spent the week mulching a garden that took 35 yards of mulch to get the job done. Of course most of it is up and down a fairly slopey area one wheelbarrow at a time. Mike did the bulk and the harder places gratefully. I hope he gets a quiet rainy weekend to recover. I may get my homework done for my watercolor class after all. Of course there is always the laundry to do, I can't believe how much soil I track home on my clothing. Most of my jeans have a hole in the right knee. (Note to clients...please pay your overdue invoices so I can pay Michael and buy some new work clothes.)

I have been out in the garden these early mornings taking photo's of all the new growth. I love staring at Pan ruler of the nature spirits, guardian of my garden when he is wet with rain.

The Peony foliage is wondrous at this time, deep red as the new leaves unfurl.

I am also enjoying the flowering of my dear old friend Twinleaf. Jeffersonia diphylla, one of Thomas Jefferson's favorites is a native wildflower that flowers before the trees leaf out.

The seed pods when fully formed look like Elf Pipes which my daughters loved to find when they were younger. I have transplanted this special creature to my many new gardens over the last 18 years or so. It spent one year in my daughters garden until I moved to this current home. This is one tough wildflower.

The spring flowers are so fleeting. The leaves on the trees are coming out the dogwoods have begun to bloom. The grass is growing and needing mowing. It all happens so fast!

An amazing season it is, with all it's intensity, beauty, thunder and rain. The music of spring is playing loudly. Enjoy!