Spring

A few days ago, I was out running errands and came home to pick up one of my teenage daughters. She came out with a look of wonder on her face and then gave me a wry grin as she approached the car. As soon as she climbed into the passenger seat, she shared what had caused her to look so puzzled when she walked outside. She thought it was snowing...in Virginia...in April. I know some of you out there occasionally see snow in April (I remember the sensation from my college days in Utah) but it doesn't happen here. The source of the confusion, the pear tree in our front yard. The white blossoms have started to fall, and the breeze had kicked up and taken a good number of them from the tree making the pedals look like snow.

As I considered how much I enjoyed the look of my house with that pear tree in bloom, I couldn't mind too much that it was losing it's blossoms because the cherry trees in several nearby yards were now coming into full bloom. I love the Washington, DC area during this time of year as it comes alive with color. In fact, when my husband considered briefly taking a job outside of Virginia a couple of years ago, the thing I thought I would miss the most here (besides my friends) was the dogwood tree in the backyard.

Year after year I look forward to seeing it wake up each spring, first with beautiful white blossoms and then with brilliant green leaves. I think those two or three weeks that my dogwood is in bloom reminds me how quickly time passes and how I need to enjoy each moment while it is here.

I've always been the type of person who is planning for the future, and I often forget about the present in the process. So as spring is in full force here in the shadows of the nation's capital, I'm planning on enjoying every minute of it. I hope all of you do too.