Forsythia

All winter, I looked out the window by my bedside and enjoyed watching a forsythia branch peek in and say hello to me. It gave me such hope in the mornings when I saw its first buds, little fingers. Each day it was a little more wick, a little more alive. Oh how happy I was the day it first turned yellow! Then, fingers turned into waving hands. Yesterday, for the first time, the hands opened exuberantly. Look!







There is something so life-affirming about the forsythia. They shout out loud "I live! I live!" each spring, and are so filled with celebration. They remind me to look at each moment as spring creeps deeper and deeper into my veins; I can't help but notice as spring reaches from the deepest roots to the highest treetops and brings color and warmth back into the world.


Here's a photo of my yard. Right now, you'll see the trees are bare. Soon, soon, the story will be different. But in the meanwhile, I'm not rushing my days of forsythia.





One of my friends reminds me each year that I can cut the forsythia back to make it more bushy. She marvels at how it can grow 18 inches in a season. Sometimes I consider cutting it back, too, just because I'm not sure I want to have it blocking my whole window in a year or two. However, I'm not ready to do that just yet. I like my forsythia with reckless abandon, flying out here and shouting out there, sharing its exuberance in every which way. (Sometimes people tell me my hair would be easier if I cut it, too! That's another story...)

Comments

  1. NiccoleApril 15, 2008 at 11:24 PM

    That makes me think of a little tree in my backyard that only blossoms for a week or two in the spring. Last year my dad decided to cut it down and I just feel weird thinking about the yard without that tree.

    And as far as your hair goes, I think it is lovely as is. Don't even think about cutting it!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Emily BengelsApril 15, 2008 at 11:40 PM

    Thanks, Niccole... :)

    Did he really cut down the tree? It must leave such an emptiness...in space and in time.

    That week or two of bloom must have been precious. It makes me think of the firefly days of late June. So short-lived, and so present..

    ReplyDelete
  3. NiccoleApril 16, 2008 at 8:21 AM

    Yep. There were a lot of trees in the back, so I knew he was cutting some things but when I went outside and just saw the skinny stump of the blossom tree it felt like a punch in the gut.

    ReplyDelete
  4. AnonymousApril 17, 2008 at 6:15 PM

    hi em :) awwww these pictures are so nice ! i love spring!!!!

    love,
    Mimi

    ReplyDelete
  5. beckyApril 17, 2008 at 6:27 PM

    I luv how you describe the cool tree and flowers on it! It makes me happy when flowers sing to me.

    ReplyDelete

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