Getting Back To Where I Still Belong

I am back at home near Binghamton, New York, looking at bare trees, early spring bulbs and....snow.

Snow near Bainbridge, NY 4-17-14

A day after it snowed for hopefully the last time....

....there was still some snow in my urban back yard, where the sun had not shone. I looked at the scene and knew that, in a way, I was being welcomed home.  I had gone back to where I still belonged.

My vacation was already like a dream.  I had swapped a light coat for shorts, and bare trees were still the order of the day.  Spring had rewound into a tight bundle, here and there showing a glimpse of the unfurling to come - any day now, I hope.

I thought about last week, in Charleston, South Carolina, as I imagined an 80 degree breeze caressing me.

I remembered my return visit to the famous Angel Oak, which may be the oldest tree east of the Mississippi.  It had been endangered by development, but (for now) has been saved.

A live oak dripping with Spanish Moss says "South" like nothing else.  This one is on the campus of the College of Charleston, one of the most beautiful urban college campuses in the United States.

Anemones and Tulips Sarah P. Duke Gardens, Duke University, Durham, NC

Then, we headed north, to the Triangle area (Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill) North Carolina and saw several gardens, including the Sarah P. Duke Garden at Duke University.

Camellia Moonlight Bay, Sarah P Duke Gardens

But then it was time to rewind spring and go home. Goodbye, camellias (sob, not hardy where I live).  Goodbye, live oaks (ditto). We started out, and as we traveled north, leaves on the trees started to disappear.

Near Charlottesville, VA, we were treated to wild red buds and the Blue Ridge Mountains.

Further north in Virginia, spring rewound further, as Bradford Pears replaced redbuds. Then, traveling through Maryland, the Bradfords disappeared in favor of the yellow of forsythias.

Then, north of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, the forsythias disappeared.  Starting around 20 miles south of Hazleton, PA we were left with snow on the roadsides. 

It reached 57 at our house today, and it still felt good in the sunshine. We took a drive today, and appreciated the hills of home.  Those bare trees will leafed out by early May, we know.  The lenten rose in our backyard is blooming, as is our bloodroot. (You'll see them tomorrow.) Spring will come to us, all in its good time.

But it was sure nice to have spring before its time, too.