Spring Has Sprung - At Last!

Finally, Spring has arrived. It's much later than what I'm used to, but it's beautiful. Daffodils are coming up all over the place and there are the gorgeous trees with white blossoms everywhere. I think they must be the vanguards of the spring blooms since they seem to have burst into blossom over the course of the last week. Other trees are just beginning to show buds. Oh, and the magnolias are out too. I had to drive through the 'burbs to come to this realization. They are everywhere in the residential neighborhoods and the combination of the ivory and the pink on the petals was simply delightful, especially since there are still a lot of blossoms on the trees, but enough petals have fallen to create gorgeous pools of color on the ground below. The gardening crew on campus is busy getting things spruced up for graduation next month and it's fun to see more green and color coming to campus. In the midst of a lot of bad news - my colleague whose condition is not improving, students' friends and family members who are also facing life-threatening illness - it's nice to see a beautiful and renewing side of the natural cycle of life surrounding us. It's a reminder that even in the middle of bad times, beauty remains.

We're in the middle of our first cycle of spring storms as well. They have the potential to be destructive, but they also bring life and green with their rainfall. And the clouds are amazing to watch. They are constantly changing and moving and each change indicates something new about what is to come. I'm learning to read them and it makes me feel more in touch with the natural world around me even as I sit in my office and grade student work. From my office, I've got a great view over the central mall on campus and one of those white-blossomed trees is just outside my window. I can see out over the edge of campus to the "big sky" that's out there, interrupted only by a couple of highrise buildings on the edge of downtown. Right now a cool breeze is coming in at the window (as opposed to the usual gale-force wind) and my curtains are lazily wafting in it. The clouds are building and are a combination of grays. Storms are likely throughout the day - if they come, hopefully they'll come with good thunder and lightning, but no destructive hail. I like being here. It's a good day.