"The dearest freshness"

"If winter comes, can spring be far behind?"  

The sun made a blinding appearance yesterday and the world lit up in technicolor. It was like suddenly going from black and white film noir to a Disney cartoon-- beautiful but disorientating. 

 

Signs of spring now everywhere on my walk. Seeing the bulbs poke up thorough winter mess and city trash always reminds me of this line from a poem by Gerard Manley Hopkins:

 

And for all this, nature is never spent;

    There lives the dearest freshness deep down things...

And in our yard, the pale pink camellia decided to bloom early. Always the first real flower of the season, delicate looking but tough as nails.

I spent some time yesterday with a hospice patient who will not see another spring. This experience puts things profoundly and instantly into perspective, which is beautiful and painful, like the sun piercing through the fog.

Can I go for a single day without complaining about something trivial, or worrying about things I have no control over? How easily our negative thought patterns become habits. And our habits, good and bad, define who we are.

Well, some big football games to watch this weekend which should be fun. Hope you have a good one. See you Monday.