Hello Spring!

Spring has sprung in Grant County!  It's always amazing to me how quickly trees and foliage take on a new life after the bare branches of winter.  Flowering buds and leaves seem to explode overnight in multi-colored dimension.  Perennials pop out of the ground along with the lush green grass of lawns and fields.  You know that spring has definitely arrived when our horses display a disinterest in eating hay set before them and prefer to wander off for the taste of new grass growth. 

WELCOME, sweet season of delight,

what beauties charm the wond'ring sight

in thy enchanting reign!

English poet, Elizabeth Bentley (1767-1839), wrote the above words in her 'Ode to Spring'.  Her poetry celebrates the beauty of the land and a deeper meaning of seasons correlating within the cycles of human life.

As you can tell in the above photos, the snow of winter still likes to intrude on the emergence of spring as it gives a few 'last hurrahs' around the surrounding countryside.  Quite a contrast as one season gives way to the other.  And so it is with Elizabeth's thoughtful words illustrated in her poem, which goes on to say.....

    We see fair Spring advances fast,

With Summer in the rear;

Soon Autumn's shades will interpose

And a succeeding Winter close

The swift-revolving year.

Of human life an emblem true,

The early morn of youth we view,

In Spring's delightful face; 

Meridian life's a Summer's day,

With Autumn fades; its quick decay,

In winter's blast we trace.

Then let us prize each fleeting hour,

Improve the moments in our pow'r, 

E'er time shall cease to be;

Then shall our spirits, taking wing,

Be crown'd with an eternal Spring,

From Wint'ry storms set free. 

Come back  to The Turn-Up Patch where we will visit again on Monday, May 23.