Peregrination

I took a walk around the pond this morning.  The weather was beautiful at the time.  The early clouds had been blown away by the gentle breeze and the sunlight made it feel relatively warm for a 40 degree morning.  Clouds have since regathered and rain is expected this evening.  Rain is good.  The earth in this area needs it.

Crab apple blossoms

The only down side to my meanderings was the noise of the neighbors mowing their lawns.  Even that wasn’t too terribly bad as the noise just faded into the background while I listened to the breeze, the birds, and the lapping of the water on the shore of the pond.

Spring continues to paint the trees at the back of the pond.

From a distance, the water of the pond appeared blue, reflecting the azure sky overhead.  Up close, the sunlight created golden ripples.

A lake is the landscape’s most beautiful and expressive feature.  It is earth’s eye; looking into which the beholder measures the depth of his nature.

~ Henry David Thoreau

At 1.5 acres, our pond is not quite a lake, but almost.

"Painted" version of the ripples and sunlight on the pond. Effects added in Photoshop.

The recent chilly weather doesn’t seem to have hurt too many of the plants.  Most of the trees look fine, although we have one or two that look as if the leaves were burned by the frosty mornings.

This poor tulip didn't do well in the cold.

Most of the daffodils are finished.  There are some in the woods that are still flourishing, but the early bloomers are just about ready to be dead-headed.  All but the one tulip pictured above seem to be doing well, and some should be opening soon.

A veil of willow branches

The fast and furious spring has been slowed down.  I like this slower pace better.  While the accelerated growth was interesting, it was also a wee bit worrisome, as if spring might burn itself out if it kept going at that rate.

The warmer weather also brought an early invasion.  An army of ants streamed into our kitchen.  This happens every year, usually in the summer.

If I could, I’d convince them to move back outside.  Since that seems unlikely, we’ve had to resort to ant bait/killer.  I don’t feel good about killing the ants, especially since I’ve recently been reading about ahimsa (a term meaning to do no harm or avoidance of violence), but I’d feel worse having ants crawling all over my kitchen, walking around in our food.

Well, that’s it for today’s walk around the pond.  Thank you for stopping by and joining me.  Happy Friday!  I hope your weekend is filled with wonder and joy.

Dogwood glow

P.S.  WordPress has currently got some glitches when it comes to commenting.  If you’re having trouble commenting, please email (robin@maidinsun.com) and let me know if you have the time/inclination so I can let WordPress know what’s going on.  Thanks!

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