I went hiking this morning. I left early to avoid the crowds of people that Memorial Day often brings. This wasn't one of those days and Roland and I never saw another person or dog. I went up above Plume on a bike path that was too muddy to walk up two weeks ago. It was like bathing in color, having beauty doused over your eyes, waking up after the long miserable winter. I could smell life, not just snow melt but growth. The ground isn't just not snow covered, it's thawing enough to create a scent of growth and newness. The willows have big fuzzy blooms on them and the grass is coming up soft green through the dead brown of last season. The pools of melted snow that sit in the sunlight have floats of lime green algae that startle the eye. The evergreens have soft light fresh color at the tips of their branches creating a soft velvet sense when seen from a little distance. The dandilions, day lilies and buttercups are everywhere , half an inch high at the most fitting right in with the rest of the short ground cover. Even the wild grasses look like they've been mowed they are so short at this time. The branches of the various willows have changed the tone of their bark from the brittle dark reds and browns of winter to the more vibrant shades of growth. There is snow everywhere still and the mountains are still so deep that the warm sun gives a lustre from a distance, pearlesence and folded like white velvet. In the deep woods there are streamlets running everywhere and the new growth comes right up through the edges of all the snow banks.
Spring gave me a joyous day today and I am grateful.
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