Carpe Diem

Carpe Diem

As we move through the cycle of the seasons, each seems to have its own message for us. With its fragile and short-lived indications of the warmer weather to come, spring is a yearly reminder to seize the day.

Here in the Washington, DC region, flowering cherry trees are the undisputed celebrities of spring. The first crocuses might be more eagerly anticipated and the flowering plums put on a more colorful show, but the cherry blossoms best represent the fleeting nature of the season.



My neighborhood is full of cherry trees, so I have a front row seat for their annual performance. This year, heavy rain the day after the buds fully opened littered the ground with pale pink. For three perfect days, blue skies framed the blossoms. Then, high winds knocked down more of the flowers. Thunderstorms predicted for today will also take their toll, and soon the blossoms will be gone for another year.

A good friend recently sent me a copy of Robert Frost’s poem, “Nothing Gold Can Stay”. Thanks to her, for the first time I noticed that some trees show a fleeting touch of gold at their crowns just before bursting into green leaf. Like the cherry blossoms, this ephemeral sign of spring won’t wait for us to find a convenient time in our busy schedules. It’s up to us to stop whatever we’re doing, if only for a moment, to appreciate the beauty of the world around us. The wheel of the year keeps turning, and this particular part of the annual journey is fleeting.

Nothing Gold Can Stay

Nature's first green is gold,
Her hardest hue to hold.
Her early leaf’s a flower;
But only so an hour.
Then leaf subsides to leaf.
So Eden sank to grief,
So dawn goes down to day.
Nothing gold can stay.

I’m going to go take one more look at the blossoms, because I can hear the thunder rolling in.