THE GLORY OF THE AWAKENING OF SPRING
The awakening of spring can happen anytime after March 1 in the mid-west. Slowly the days get a bit longer and the crust of winter melts away.
God and Nature have it all planned out. By the middle of March the geese are on their way north and the ducks not far behind. The robins are starting to show up from their long trip from a much warmer climate. Their song wakes us up in the early morning. They seem happy to be back and we are pleased to have them. This is where they will mate and raise the next generation of happy warblers. They are a member of the thrush family so they love to sing.
Slowly the grass takes on a greener color and starts to grow. The early plants start to emerge such as garlic, which is wild, asparagus and rhubarb comes up in their patch. It is a glorious time of the year. The sap starts to rise in the trees, maple first and the rest not far behind. Some of the fruit trees start to bloom and leaf out early and some later. When we see the early blooms of spring, we soon hear the buzzing of bees. They have been dormant all winter and are hungry for nectar. I don’t think man could have planned any thing like this. It takes God’s pland and nature’s way to work out the best.
One of the most amazing things about plant ecology is our wild flowers. With no help from mankind, they thrive in their wild environment year after year. The task would be too great to name all the wild flowers and ferns. The ones we see the most often are the violets, blue bells, Dutchman’s breeches, tiger lilies, lilies of the valley and more. Each wild flower and fern has a long history. It seems they have been here forever. They come up every year in their own place, in their own time. They grow from roots or seeds and are scattered by the wind or the animal life of the Forest. It is just one more sign of the awakening of spring.
God and Nature working together perform a natural beauty for us all to ponder.
There is nothing more exciting in the spring than the peeping through of the tightly curled fern fronds and their gradual unrolling and spreading upward toward the light. They are one of the world’s oldest plants. In the language of flowers, fern means “revelry”. The cool green, the quite glens which they inhabit, the lush leaves cut delicately and arch gracefully, all suggest deep musing and places to be alone with thoughts.
Wayne C. Little
