Greetings, dear readers.

I stepped out of the house yesterday, intending to go for a late afternoon walk, my usual time. Looking up into the cherry tree I stopped to try for a photo that might capture the scale of it – the hundreds of flower spikes along every branch and twig. The overcast sky meant I couldn’t shoot upwards without catching too much white.

This is what the end of one branch looked like:

Imagine that multiplied, thousands on one tree. It’s breathtaking.

While I was standing under the cherry tree the thunder started. By the time I had grabbed the mail and was back in the house, it was raining. Then it poured. It rained hard enough to make a fountain of my gutters.

I knew that when I looked out in the morning, it would look like it snowed. The tiny cherry blossoms are delicate and shed petals easily. Many of them won’t last through that kind of downpour. After a hard rain there will be tiny white petals everywhere. Another wonderment.

Spring is beautiful in part because it is ephemeral. Still, every flower holds the promise of a seed. And every seed is a promise for the future. No one season lasts, and every season comes again.

Readers, I hope the spring rains are restorative where you are. I wish you safe and well and I am grateful you were here.