Before she leaves (and Spring steals every waking moment), I want to make record of the surprise Gift of this winter that lingers, even as I speak: the "Dregs" of Hydrangeas.
I didn't grow up with them and didn't even know what they were called when I moved to the Netherlands in 2009. The Dutch call them hortensias.
To be honest, they don't do anything for me when in bloom, which explains why I have no photos of my own during their normal summer growth:
[photo credit: Daily Mercury/Google]
But once they start their transformation in autumn, I suddenly sit up and take notice.
And then this year came the late January rain, followed by snow in early February.
What made me pay more attention to them THIS year? Was it the pandemic...
making us all pay more attention to everything around us (with nothing else to do)?
The week of snow was followed by a week in late February of unseasonably warm temps,
up to the 60s F...
And there from my chair, (thankful for the macro lens), I fell in love.
Will I pay more attention to the coming Spring and Summer growth, I wonder, now that I'm in love with Autumn and Winter?
Yes. I will.
But deep inside me I already know that it will always be the well-spent end-of-life stage that will forever enthrall me.
Is it another reminder to fall in love with myself where I am in Life now as I know it?
