Spring here in the northeast is stunning. Celia and I decided it must be a reward for making it through winter that the colors are so varied and beautiful. And they last so long!
The trees are catching my attention now that the tulips are fading. Some have tiny leaves, no bigger than the tip of my finger. Others already have leaves as big as my palm. And the bugs are feasting on some of the tender goodness!
One tree in particular is striking. I don't know what it is, a maple perhaps?
Where's Uncle Chuck, the forester? He would know every tree and shrub and tell me all the details. Ah well. Uncle Chuck is out in the woods of Wisconsin, peacefully enjoying the spring too.
Back to that tree - the leaves come out nearly purple - one day they looked a bit like Welch's Grape Juice with the sun shining through it. They fade to a burgundy or deep rusty color. Now they are shifting slowly to green.
The trees are so striking against the other shades of green, pale, soft and some bright and vibrant.
What's most amazing to me is that it is the end of May and spring is still blooming. Typically the Memorial Day weekend is hyped as the beginning of summer but where I've lived before, it's long since been HOT. James said recently that the weather is already into the 90s every day and he's back to mowing weekly. Meanwhile, up here it hasn't hit 80 once, and is still in the 40s at night. Quite the difference!
Aside from thoughts on the weather, there are two other things on my mind today. First, I have been reading through Isaiah 44-49 these past few nights. It is so comforting, God calling us back, calling us to return, wanting us to be near to God. What I find amazing is that God writes our name in the palm of God's hand - that is apparently what slaves would do - write the name of their master on the palm of their hand. How is it that God who created the universe, God whose love is never ending, God whose mercies never fail - that same God would be a servant and write MY name on God's palm? After reading Job, this is an image to ponder.
The other thing on my mind is paying attention - pay attention to details and the whole. My toe, my hamstring and I went out for a short run this morning. Not enough time for a full run, but needed the exercise so out "we" went. As always, I paid attention to the breath. But this time I paid attention to my toes too. I think what must have happened last Saturday was that I'd been holding tension in my toes, crimping them up and too tightly together. I noticed (details!) that I was doing just that, so I relaxed them so as not to repeat the injury. And yet, I had to pay attention to the whole - stance, stride, relaxing the back muscles, position of the shoulders and head, breathing and rhythms. It's a good thing. My hamstring was just fine today, finally. After a nice long stretch, I felt much better.
But I still don't like running much. :-)
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