Apple Blossoms

On a whim, we drove out to the Old Davis Homeplace yesterday.  It was nearly supper time, but the trip is short, so we went.  Oh, it was good to be in the country again.  Town life really does not compare, even though our little town is fairly quiet and there is plenty of green inside its limits.  I didn't take my camera along, which is for the best sometimes.  So, I drank in the changing trees and brightening fields with my own eyes.  I've said before that the forest in Spring is similar to the forest in Autumn.  The same reds, browns, and greens are present, but they are muted.  The time before the leaves is a wonderful pause.

It was so nice just to be there, to see the state of things after Winter, ever how mild it was.  The grass was full and green, the chickweed was taking over the place, the horse was frisky, the cat was rolling around, the blueberries were beginning to bloom.  The creek was running, too, so the children couldn't resist dipping their toes into the marshy edges while I just sat on a bench in the shade.  Just to sit in a place without the concerns of my own home, and to remember all my childhood wanderings in that place.  That is so nice.  I recall teachers discouraging the use of "nice" in my elementary years, but some things in life are just that.  Nice.

There are parts of me that really long to live in the country again, I'll admit.  There is a freedom there that is not found here in town, no matter how small.  We enjoy many conveniences--walking distance to Mike's work, no icy roads, easy trips to the store--but there are concessions we must make in the process.  And there are the fruit trees.  The House I Stayed in for the Fruit Trees.  I guess we will call it that.

The big old apple tree at my parents' house was just full of blooms.  If you stood under the tree with just a moment of quiet, you could here the whole thing humming with bees.  What a special sound that is!  I'll admit that the children have mixed feelings about bees, which I suppose is only natural.  This is a tree in our own neighborhood that was in a similar state.  How did I ever dislike Spring?