Sunday, March 15, 2009

Pansies, Light and Snow


"The days then rapidly grew thick into all darkness with only small spaces of light (that is autumn) and then remained solidly all darkness with only small patches of light (that is winter), and then the darkness slowly thinned out (that is spring), but the light was never as overwhelmingly in its way as the darkness was overwhelmingly dark in its way (that is summer)."
-Jamaica Kincaid, "Those Words that Echo..."

It may have been -3 degrees this morning, and there may be a thick blanket of snow on Mount Vitosha, and it may not be Daylight Savings time yet, and I may have just sent an e-mail starting with "today was another day in the lengthy series entitled 'not spring yet'", but the darkness is starting to thin. Pansies - the toughest of the flower family - have been blooming all over Europe since January, and snowdrops have begun to spring up in Sofia.  We can feel it coming, spring. Or at least we want to feel it coming. 

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I just wrote to you in a similar vein. I've been hoping the light was lengthening for you two, as it has been doing for us, and now I know it to be true. I'm awfully glad! Love, mom

Mary and Jamie said...

Hang in there, Betsy. The grey will lift and the warmth will come. Wishing I could bottle up some NorCal sunshine and send it your way. Look at the bright side: you're saving money on sunblock. =-)