Photographs of the emerging spring are everywhere on social media.  It is obvious that many in the northern hemisphere have been through stunning winters, and are seriously ready for the first signs of spring.  Those signals are coming or are already present in lower, more southerly and/or coastal locations. But those of us at higher elevations and more northerly locations, wait, with anticipation, searching the landscape or our yards each day for signs of emergence.  Our friend, Dianne, who lives in southern Colorado, has a riot of green now from the seeds she planted indoors. Like many of us at elevations of 7,000 feet and above, she is probably waiting to plant the more delicate veggies and flowers until the magic date of the average last frost, 15 May. Forget about the fact that last year's spinach over wintered in one of our raised beds and is extremely happy. I await the first Easter daisies, the first bright "spring green" aspen leaves, as well as scrub oak leaves.  Shoots from the daffodil bulbs are just starting to emerge after the last of the four foot high piles of snow melted last week. Those flowers will be on the scene soon. 

In anticipation of daily signs, I call this black and white photograph "Before".

before spring

Then, one day it seems, one leaf after another begins to unfold.

new aspen leaves

There is nothing like seeing aspen in spring.

Aspen spring green

The Easter daisies, shown below, are the high mesa's version of the Easter lily.

easter daisies-2

Last but not least, scrub oaks, with their extremely short growing season, add splashes of bright green amidst the conifers.

spring oaks

Happy Spring to all of you!

until next Monday,

DB

a passion for the image@