Thursday, May 7, 2009

Greens . . .

We've had rain every day for almost a week and the array of various shades of green is staggering. Above, the creamy blooms of the horse chestnut (or buckeye) are lifted above the the glistening jade of the leaves.

Below, clumps of water cress in the branch under the willow rejoice in the flowing water. Watercress was first planted there by some tenants a good fifteen years ago and it has seeded and spread with a will. I have sighted it growing happily in the branch at least a mile down the road.


The pale new yellow-greens are perhaps my favorite -- lacy against the sky and feathery against the solidness of the dark tree trunks. But would that pale green be half so charming without the deep green of the evergreens as background?

And the newly-mown grass! I don't know where I first heard the phrase 'emerald sward' but that's what comes to mind when I see it just now! Of course, with all this rain, that new-mown look is gone in about 24 hours.


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There's been too much drought for the past several years for anyone to complain of rain, even as weeds prosper and gardens await planting. This gentle persistent rain feels like restoration . . . like healing . . . like a blessing on the land.

11 comments:

Carol Murdock said...

That rain does green things up!
I got your Rose in the car. See you in Flat Rock!!
Carol

Vicki Lane said...

Safe journey, Carol!

Tess Kincaid said...

Love all that lush emerald green! Up here, too. We've had sooooo much rain.

Anonymous said...

Wish you could send a little of that rain down here to Florida. Yard looks like hay....

Pat D.

Vicki Lane said...

Willow - I've just ordered some waterproof walking shoes as my old ones proved sadly inadequate yesterday when we were rounding up some runaway cows! Too wet to mow and the grass is getting higher by the minute!

Pat -- I wish I could will some rain your way -- maybe that pattern of afternoon thunderstorms will kick in for you all pretty soon.

Reader Wil said...

How wonderful that you and Carol will meet! Everything looks so green in your surroundings, and I must admit that it is beautiful. We had a lot of rain too! Thanks for your visit!

Vicki Lane said...

Thanks for stopping by, Reader Wil. I wish that I could someday meet all my blog friends in person.

Victoria said...

I spoke with my friend who lives in Kentucky and she said they were having gentle rains, too. Rain is so much better for all vegetation than water from hoses. Now if only we here in California could get some badly needed rain!

vicki archer said...

The first image is fab Vicki, xv.

Eleanor said...

Gorgeous greens with the greyish trunks of those trees. I immediately thought of a quilt in soft greens. I shared the content of your book: Community quilts, with our little 'bee' last Saturday. But I told the girls I am not ready to lend the book yet.

We also had a discussion about the correct pronunciation of Appalachians! Of course, here in South Africa we have so called 'British'accents!

Vicki Lane said...

Victoria -- As I told Pat D., I wish I could send some of the rain your way. We seem to be in some sort of holding pattern where it keeps looping around.

Ha, my husband just called me to come look at the sky -- the clouds are doing weird swirling things - probably part of that looping effect.

Vicki A. -- I was really pleased with that shot. I'm no photographer but a digital camera, suited to the meanest intelligence, is very helpful.

Eleanor -- I love to think of your community in SA taking a look at our community here in the Appalachians. A lot of folks -- generally those not from this area -- pronounce it with the third A long
(App (as in apple) uh - LAY - shun.

But the more approved pronunciation would be App - uh - LATCH - un. The word is of Cherokee Indian origin and many of their place names contain this LATCH syllable.

Of, course, I have a feeling that you all in SA don't pronounce LATCH -- or LAY or even APPLE -- in the same way we do.

I adore the accents of different places!