Nature’s Spring Greening – Quotes and Photos

I’m watching my valley go from the white of winter’s snow to the vibrant green of spring. It’s amazing how quickly the transition happens. I’m grateful – this year, every year – to be a witness.

A Little Madness in the Spring, by Emily Dickinson

A little Madness in the Spring

Is wholesome even for the King,

But God be with the Clown—

Who ponders this tremendous scene—

This whole Experiment of Green—

As if it were his own!

An “experiment of green” – so apt! In honor of spring, here are some favored quotes and photos (and one video) on the theme of spring’s green and being a clown for living life and loving nature.

When you arise in the morning, think of what a precious privilege it is to be alive – to breathe, to think, to enjoy, to love. 

Marcus Aurelius

When spring came, even the false spring, there were no problems except where to be happiest. The only thing that could spoil a day was people and if you could keep from making engagements, each day had no limits. People were always the limiters of happiness except for the very few that were as good as spring itself.

Ernest Hemingway, A Moveable Feast

“Sometimes,” said Pooh, “the smallest things take up the most room in your heart.”

A. A. Milne, Winnie the Pooh

One day you will wake up and there won’t be any more time to do the things you’ve always wanted. Do it now.

Paul Coelho

I must change my life so that I can live it, not wait for it.

Susan Sontag

We waste so many days waiting for the weekend. So many nights wanting morning. Our lust for future comfort is the biggest thief of life.

Joshua Glenn Clark

“Is the spring coming?” he said. “What is it like?”… “It is the sun shining on the rain and the rain falling on the sunshine…”

Frances Hodgson Burnett, The Secret Garden

I want to sing like the birds sing, not worrying about who hears or what they think.

Rumi

This life is yours. Take the power to choose what you want to do and do it well. Take the power to love what you want in life and love it honestly. Take the power to walk in the forest and be a part of nature. Take the power to control your own life. No one else can do it for you. Take the power to make your life happy.

Susan Polis Schutz

The price of anything is the amount of life you exchange for it.

Henry David Thoreau

***

The arrival of birds is one of spring’s many joys. Canada geese migrate through, munching on new grass as they rest on their way north, their honking a loud part of the constant blending of bird songs and calls. This pair let me know they were alert to my dogs as we walked the road beside the pasture in which they were grazing, eventually taking flight in search of someplace even quieter.

In the spring, at the end of the day, you should smell like dirt.

Margaret Atwood, Bluebeard’s Egg