I don't have many blogging rituals, but marking the first appearance of golden-green spring leaves is one of them. I did it in 2003, 2004, and 2005, and it's time to do it again.
It's remarkable how much earlier spring comes here in the pacific northwest. I noticed the telltale golden glow on the not-quite-bare branches the day we returned from Rochester, nearly a month before the same signs are likely to appear back east.
Here's my annual tribute to this beautiful and fragile time of year.
Nothing Gold Can StayNature's first green is gold,
--Robert Frost
Her hardest hue to hold.
Her early leaf's a flower;
But only so an hour.
Then leaf subsides to leaf.
So Eden sank to grief,
So dawn goes down to day.
Nothing gold can stay.
You folks up in Seattle borrowed our spring, and we want it back! You can have your rain back, thankyouverymuch. (True story: Apparently the 29-days-in-March rainy pattern here in Silicon Valley, which is unprecedented, is a pattern shift, and we're getting the rain that's supposed to be in the Pacific Northwest.)
Y'know, I'm *totally* okay with that. :)
I think you're protesting too much there, walt. OK, I got a bit wet cycling to the station this week, but we've had spring blossoms for weeks, and the orange trees are nice and ripe.
Well, sure, I'm protesting too much. But, you know, our spring is supposed to include sunshine--maybe 10-12 days of rain in March. (I was wrong about the 29: It was only 22 to 25, depending on the city. Still a record. And, to be sure, it rained Sunday and it's raining now.)
I'm a native Californian, which means in this case I'm a complete, total weather wimp. We've lived in the mid-Peninsula for 27 years, and figure that the spectacular if largely seasonless weather is one balance to the spectacular if largely senseless housing prices.
Heck, if we didn't mind rain most of the time, we'd be sorely tempted to move to the Seattle area; it's wonderful country.
Hi Elizabeth, Came across your site while searching for "kids + blog". My daughter (7) is working on one -- http://rizagoa.blogspot.com -- and would love to be in touch with your son's work! FN