The Beauty of Spring

Can it really be?  Spring is beginning to subtly peek at us. I have not heard of so much snowfall in so many places in a very, very long time. My many friends and relatives in the north, surely you all are weary of the cold and the snow and the ice. Even my southern friends have had their share.  

 As I look out my window here in Texas,  I see pine trees blooming and I see those bushes with the reddish leaves and fuschia blooms whose name has slipped away from me.  Some of the early flowering trees have blossomed, and new growth is beginning to pop out.  (I looked it up...those plants with the fuschia blooms.. they are Loropetalum or Plum Delight, and to expose my horticultural ignorance, my Google search words were Laura Pedlum!)  Anyway, I believe the whole U.S.A. would say altogether, "We are ready for Spring!".

Today's painting is of one of my very favorite flowers in the whole plant kingdom.  The Peony.  I think one very excellent reason to move further north would be to be able to grow these in my own yard and go out and cut them for my viewing pleasure. I have one special friend in New Jersey who does just that.  I am jealous, Julie.   And, speaking of north, this painting was purchased by a college friend who lives in Illinois and with whom I had not had contact for some 40 years.   Thanks to Facebook, we have been reunited.  She saw this there and wanted it.  Thank you, Gail!

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[He has sent me] to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair.
Isaiah 61::3