Spring Bouqet

I told you all about the storm we got on Monday night, but I didn't mention what I did before it started: I ran out into the yard armed with a pink plastic tray and gathered bunches and bunches of flowers, to save them!

It turns out that daffodils and hyacinth and forsythia are hardier than all of that. They took the pounding of the rain and hail and heavy winds, and they were still standing the next day. Do not underestimate the power of the flower, my friends! Still, I was glad I brought some of them in.

I thought you might enjoy seeing a picture of my bouquet. The colors are very bright and springy, and they bring me joy every time I look at them. I am grateful for this good, green earth, for blue skies whenever they come, and especially . . . for the gift of flowers.

I wanted the tune to accompany this image to be a song about flowers, and here's a really beautiful one. It is sung almost like a lullaby, and I have to admit that while I've been a John Denver fan since I was a tiny child, this is one I had not heard until this day. It also seems a perfect way to celebrate Earth Day. John Denver and Olivia Newton-John, The Flower That Shattered the Stone.

The earth is our mother,  just turning around
With her trees in the forest and roots underground.
Our father above us, whose sigh is the wind,
Paint us a rainbow without any end.

As the river runs freely, the mountain does rise.
Let me touch with my fingers, and see with my eyes.
In the hearts of the children, a pure love still grows.
Like a bright star in heaven that lights our way home,

Like the flower that shattered the stone.