My Favorite Time of Year

As I reflect on the beauty of each season, it's difficult to choose my favorite time of the year.

When April and May roll around, I always say, "Ah, this is my favorite time of the year!" This spring was especially lovely with the flowering trees, greening grasses, and the plethora of blossoms of all shapes and scents.The tulips, daffodils, and primroses gave way to roses, lavender, and our spring and summer perennials of all shapes and sizes.

Early June was changeable with its warming days, coolish nights, and occasional thunderstorms.This year robins pecked their way through the vent screens and made a nest in our attic.The sound just about drove our kitty crazy. She could hear the chicks chirping, but couldn't figure out where they were hiding. As soon as the winged family left, we patched up the hole. There was a limit to our hospitality.

I wanted to hold onto each moment June provided because I knew July and August would bring the heat and triple digits. Faded rose petals, patches of dry grass, and hot nights seemed to linger until mid-September. Fast forward to October and I declared, "This is my favorite time of year." The warm autumn colors are clinging to the trees and the sounds of migrating Canadian geese fill the skies. They are reminders winter is not long in coming.

The hardy geese will remain to feed on the golf courses and parks and then lay eggs along the river banks. Spring comes again and life burst forth. The cycle begins anew.

Each season holds a special place in my heart and I'm grateful to live in a region where I experience the fullness of Nature's changing seasons. So, here's to my favorite time of year, no matter what the calendar says.

Rhododendron Time

As a native of the Pacific Northwest, rain aside, one predictable spring-time tradition is the return of fragrant, full-blossomed rhododendrons. Many years ago my father introduced a beautiful new world to me: the world of flowers, most especially rhododendrons and roses. But today the subject is rhodies, as Dad called them.

As a long time resident of Portland, Oregon, the Crystal Springs Rhododendron Garden was just a few miles drive. We visited as often as possible. One of the busiest times is Mother's Day weekend, which heralds the kick-off of weeks of blooming rhodies, azaleas and spring flowers of many varieties. Of course, the garden is opened all year long, even in the wet and dreary winter months. But the immaculately kept flower beds, year-round shrubs and trees, lively ducks, graceful cranes, and nervous squirrels, all of nature's best, beckoned us to Crystal Springs month after month.

Sadly, now we live four hours away and our desert-like climate isn't friendly to the raising of rhodies and azaleas; but this May we'll return to Portland for a weekend and visit the rhododendron gardens again. Strolling alongside the lake and through the garden’s winding paths, I will think of my late father. Especially as I lean into fragrant blossoms to inhale their springtime perfume and appreciate their perfectly shaped blooms that range from whitest-white to the deepest scarlet. Join me in a few weeks and celebrate spring wherever you are; it's just around the corner.