Greens . . .

We've had rain every day for almost a week and the array of various shades of green is staggering. Above, the creamy blooms of the horse chestnut (or buckeye) are lifted above the the glistening jade of the leaves.

Below, clumps of water cress in the branch under the willow rejoice in the flowing water. Watercress was first planted there by some tenants a good fifteen years ago and it has seeded and spread with a will. I have sighted it growing happily in the branch at least a mile down the road.

The pale new yellow-greens are perhaps my favorite -- lacy against the sky and feathery against the solidness of the dark tree trunks. But would that pale green be half so charming without the deep green of the evergreens as background?

And the newly-mown grass! I don't know where I first heard the phrase 'emerald sward' but that's what comes to mind when I see it just now! Of course, with all this rain, that new-mown look is gone in about 24 hours.

There's been too much drought for the past several years for anyone to complain of rain, even as weeds prosper and gardens await planting. This gentle persistent rain feels like restoration . . . like healing . . . like a blessing on the land.