Fresh Air
Experience the joys of country life in this reader roundup.
EVERY APRIL I FALL IN LOVE all over again with my forsythias. These shrubs display the most vibrant yellow—so welcome after winter. Their arms reach toward the sky, sometimes swaying in a gentle breeze, lashing back and forth throughout a violent rainstorm, or idly toasting themselves in warm sunshine. Their blossoms are always energetic and cheerful, even on a wet afternoon.
Forsythias encourage hope for the new season. “Time to get outside!” they call. “Ride your bike! Put on your skates! Dig in the garden! Go for a walk! Jump rope! Come out and play! Don’t sit inside on this lovely spring day!”
Among the first plants to greet spring, these blossoms invite us to admire their beauty. They encourage us to pause, reflect and appreciate the wonderful changes about to explode all around us in nature. The sky won’t always be gray. The temperature will eventually reach above 40 degrees. Soon we will be outside without our heavy coats. Buds, blossoms, gusts, showers, sunshine—the earth is about to transform from dull brown to new green.
The more I admire my forsythia branches, the more I realize that they symbolize exactly what I personally want to be—playful, relaxed, happy, free and uplifting.