The Early Edge of Spring

It's officially spring, as of a week ago. But for weeks and weeks we have been teased by buds and blossoms and jacketless balmy afternoon walks on soggy trails. The peekaboo sun has been peeking through a lot. I enjoyed monday in Seattle with son Ian and we spent most of the day outside because it was clearly the best place to be —especially for him since he was visiting from Fairbanks, where spring doesn't show up anywhere near the 'appointed' date. Ian told me he could see the cherry blossoms in Seattle from the plane and we walked under and around the pink petals as well as larger blossoms of magnolia. There were tulips and trailing blue myrtle as well as primrose and plum and the deep magenta of wild current - a confetti of color as well as limitless shades of green. Driving through Port Townsend today I caught that intoxicating spicy aroma of spring blossoms, just about everywhere I went. It's a heavenly time. This evening the light on Port Townsend Bay was like liquid platinum...people say that we in the northwest live in "gray" as if it's a bad thing, but I get fonder of shades of gray all the time. Especially when it seems to have life of its own, painting the softly rippling water as though to dress it up and show it off.