Ten thousand flowers

Ten thousand flowers in the spring, the moon
in autumn,
A cool breeze in summer, snow in winter —
If your mind is not clouded by unnecessary
things,
this is the best season of your life.

~ Chinese poem

I am fairly certain I’ve posted that poem here at Ye Olde Blogge sometime in the past.  Although it refers to all seasons, I always think of it at springtime because of the way it starts with “Ten thousand flowers…”  When I went to see the orchids over a week ago, the only flowers blooming here in the Bogs were the crocuses.  Now it seems as if there really are ten thousand flowers on this first day of spring.

Live in each season as it passes; breathe the air, drink the drink, taste the fruit, and resign yourself to the influences of each.

~ Henry David Thoreau

I have been working on reestablishing my early rising habit.  With all the illness I’ve been going through over the past few months, from the first flu through the shingles through this latest cold, I got into a pattern of sleeping whenever, however, and that has wiped out any schedule I had.  Schedules are important for good sleep, or so I’ve read from some of the experts.  A lack of schedule or routine can lead to insomnia, or so I’ve experienced as well as read.

This morning I watched as the sky drifted from the darkness of night to the pinkness of dawn.  I listened to the spring peepers, who were peeping when I went to sleep last night and still at it this morning.  I love the way their chorus undulates, the wave of their otherworldly song rising and falling.  As the sky lightened to a cobalt blue, the birds started to awaken.  A robin started things off with its morning message of cheerily, cheer up, cheer up, cheerily, cheer up (as described at All About Birds; it really does sound like that).  About the time the other birds joined in, it was light enough outside for reality to re-form, solid darkness once again becoming the pond, the trees, the meadows.  The daffodils picked up their nodding heads, greeting the sun.

There is a way that nature speaks, that land speaks.  Most of the time we are simply not patient enough, quiet enough, to pay attention to the story.

~ Linda Hogan

Today, part of the story is more sunshine and warm temperatures here in the Bogs.  It has me wondering if we have ever turned on the air conditioning as early as the first day of spring.  Not that we turned it on today.  Even with the highs in the 80s, it seems much too soon for that.  The nights are still cool.  We open the windows at night and close the curtains during the day.  Ta-da!  Natural air conditioning.

May our heart’s garden of awakening bloom with hundreds of flowers.

~ Thich Nhat Hanh

Thank you for visiting the Bogs on this warm first full day of spring.  The ground is still soggy and boggy close to the pond, but the meadows are beginning to dry and firm so there’s less of a need for boots out there.  I think I’ll serve dinner on the deck this evening so we can watch the sunset as we nourish ourselves.  I’ll save you a seat.  🙂

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