SAFFRON AND LILAC

It was just about warm enough to go out without a coat today. I love that day when it comes; there's something sweet about slipping out of your coat on an afternoon you thought would be colder, letting the warm sun wrap around you as you sling the bulky winter coat over your arm.

Though I didn't have mine with me. I'd decided to go out to the park at lunchtime, and when I got to the front door and laced myself into my walking boots, I realised my coat was upstairs - so I risked it and went without it.

It was a delicious day. The trees are still bare of course, but the sky was enormous and blue. Though lunchtime, the sun was low, and so long shadows fell across the bright green grass. I did my usual survey of the trees: there were tiny buds on the fingers of the branches of the rogue oak and the pagoda tree. In the copse, the silver sunlight fell beautifully on the climbing tree, and the apple tree was twisted in the wind.

There was a patch of crocuses in the shade. I love how they grow so early in the season, their petals bobbling in the cool breeze. They're delightful, happy little flowers. I thought about how magicians pull flowers out of handkerchiefs and look smug about it on stage. God, in all his quiet glory, pulls real flowers out of the soil, and it is wonderful.

I wrote a quick ditty:

Saffron and Lilac

Saffron and lilac
Lit by the light
Of the sun, through the silvery wood
Shadow and flame that is
Flimsy and bright
As the wonder of all that is good
Crocuses bloom
In the shade of the tree
Where the winter is fading to spring
Saffron and lilac
So gentle to see
As the flowers that silently sing

I guess there's a time for everything, and today it just so happened to be the first day for not wearing a coat. The crocuses too, seemed warm enough with their little splash of colour. Sure, there might be frosts ahead, and there might be days still for wrapping up in a jacket. It's nice to think though that on the whole, we're heading into a bit of freedom and joy: a bit of springtime.