Blossoms. I love when the tall trees on my block begin to blossom. They canopy the entire street in lovely little white flowers that smell like spring and it looks so beautiful. I always count down to the day in which they sprout their first blossom, but this winter was so harsh that they are only now beginning to bloom.
Blossoms. They give my street a whole new look. All winter long, the street looks so sad and desolate, the bare branches pointing up every which way, cold and naked. The cold atmosphere makes the chill in the air even more frigid. The sky reflects the grayness of the dark concrete you walk on and it is simply unpleasant to be outside. It’s depressing. But once the trees begin to bloom, the sky softens to a subtle hue of blue. The trees no longer seem cold and naked. Everything seems full and alive. It’s an amazing thing to bare witness too. Mother Nature gracing us with her presence; Persephone rising up from the clutches of Hades to rejoin her mother, Demeter seeding the soils of the Earth.
Blossoms. What’s even more beautiful is when the white petals begin to fall, coating the gray concrete in white, to make way for the new thick green leaves. It looks like a fresh layer of snow has coated the ground, but it’s even better because you literally end up walking on soft flower petals. It saddens me a bit that the blossoms that are just beginning to sprout will soon be dust at our feet, but that eventually gives way to a great appreciation of the thick leaves they helped sprout. Those same leaves that will one day give you shelter during a hot summer shower.
Blossoms. It’s what I look forward to each spring. It makes me forget that I live in the middle of a busy, bustling New York City.
Happy Earth Day.