The rain is dissipating, the clouds are blowing off to other regions and though the ground is still damp the wisteria have decided to burst open filling the yard with fragrant, lovely lavender blossoms. The bees aren’t interested in us anymore, they are drunk on the sweet-smelling nectar oozing from these springtime visitors.
It has been seven years since we planted these wisteria plants and I’ve grown used to their arrival with the sudden explosion of lavender perfume and the following lush green foliage. It is a treat every year and a pleasure I look forward too. In other areas, the seasons bring radical differences of shocking red, orange and yellow leaves, dramatic weather, snow, blizzards or tornadoes, but in California, we delight in the smaller changes: actual creeks, small waterfalls, lupines and wisteria. It reminds me that there will be warmer weather to look forward to.
Our wisteria is a simple pleasure, but one I can enjoy free every time I open the sliding door to the garden. It brings tears to my eyes, as do many sensory experiences that elicit memories of other Springs when there were more of us here in this house, and times were not so uncertain. The scent of spring flowers is an expected indulgence that I have shared with my family and even my dog seems to wallow in the heady blossoms that litter the patio.
Spring is a time for new beginnings, and as my Weight Watcher leader said at our Saturday meeting, “We can’t create a new beginning, but we can create a new ending.” We have a chance in the Spring to start again, to look forward at the ending we want to create and begin now to walk that road. The wisteria remind me that there are possibilities and there is still hope. I hope I see them blossom again next Spring.
BetweenTheWords 