The force that through the green fuse drives the flower

The force that through the green fuse drives the flower
Drives my green age; that blasts the roots of trees
Is my destroyer.
And I am dumb to tell the crooked rose
My youth is bent by the same wintry fever.

The force that drives the water through the rocks
Drives my red blood; that dries the mouthing streams
Turns mine to wax.
And I am dumb to mouth unto my veins
How at the mountain spring the same mouth sucks.

The hand that whirls the water in the pool
Stirs the quicksand; that ropes the blowing wind
Hauls my shroud sail.
And I am dumb to tell the hanging man
How of my clay is made the hangman’s lime.

The lips of time leech to the fountain head;
Love drips and gathers, but the fallen blood
Shall calm her sores.
And I am dumb to tell a weather’s wind
How time has ticked a heaven round the stars.

And I am dumb to tell the lover’s tomb
How at my sheet goes the same crooked worm.

Poem by Dylan Thomas

I judge the arrival of Spring using my own personal meter. When it’s warm enough to eat lunch outside on the deck, I know Spring is just around the corner. When I hear the ospreys call and see them high in the air above our redwood forest, I’m sure Spring will burst through soon. The undeniable proof, the drama that drove Dylan Thomas to write his poem, begins when the first lady slippers poke their heads up through the soil.

Lady Slipper or Fairy Slipper Orchid

The same mysterious natural force drives all life (flowers, insects, animals and us) and this force inevitably brings both life and death. 

Not long after the first lady slipper, the flying bugs begin to appear. The bumble bees are among the earliest. Woodland Skippers dance through the air, usually in pairs. Sometimes one will rest for just a moment on the marigolds that phalanx my deck. The Cabbage White butterflies drift in their erratic zigzag patterns over the garden and sometimes rise into the highest redwood trees.

Woodland Skipper butterfly perched on Marigold flower

A myriad of dragonflies soon starts to circle around the meadow eating smaller bugs like those pesky mosquitoes. A Male-Flame Skimmer like this one might rest on the flower spike of an aloe plant right in front of you if you’re patient.

Male Flame Skimmer

Flame skimmers perch on tall flower spikes because they act like lookout towers. From there the dragonfly can scan for insects, defend its territory or just warm up in the sun. Later a bouquet of hummingbirds jostles for the same plant. Dozens of hummingbirds visit the flowers over time without any hummingbird feeder although it’s kind of you to put one there for them.

In the early spring a Black Phoebe nest appears under the eve of the front door. Sometimes the adult birds use the same nest two or three times. It’s best to leave the nest alone even if unoccupied.

Black Phoebe nesting

As Spring moves along toward Summertime, the meadow and the surrounding forest fills with flowers and butterflies. Watch, walk, and make a note of how life unfolds here to escape the dark news of our times: war, environmental decline, politics, inequality, and the personal insecurities that work against happiness. It’s a luxury, I know. Join me, just for a moment, and indulge. The names of the flowers are my best guess and the photographs are snapshots taken with my phone. Nothing professional about this.

Trillium

Trillium (changed color with age)

Wild Pea Flowers

Clayton Candy Flower

Horsetail Rushes

Goldenrod Crab Spider

Angelica Cow Flower

Salal Buds

Western Tiger Swallowtail resting on Marigold leaves

Purple Rhododendron

Baby Blue Eyes

Wastonia

Pink Rhododendron

Burgeoning Foxglove

Deep Purple Foxglove

Clintonia

Wild Iris

White Foxglove

Fleabane Daisies

White Rhododendron

Blue Hydrangea

Montbretia (Crocosmia)

Finally, as Fall approaches the huckleberries ripen up and the apples are ready (if you can beat the deer and the bear) to make pies (It’s The Pie, Stupid).

Huckleberries

Deer Attacking Apples

Black Bear

Nature’s energy is indifferent. It produces flowers and causes them to wither. Growth and decay happen simultaneously. Life and death are not opposites. They are part of the same cycle. The same energy that builds the body eventually destroys it. All life is made of the same forces which we cannot communicate. “I am dumb to tell the crooked rose my youth is bent by the same wintry fever.” We sense the unity of life and death but must ultimately remain mute. The power that makes us alive is the power that will kill us.

We have a few precious moments to explore, to learn, to enjoy. Don’t waste them.