Signs of Spring

What a difference a week makes - walking to the G.P.'s this morning it was remarkable how quickly everything seems to have greened up in the last week or so.  Paths, that have been predominantly mud for the last 6 months, suddenly are fringed in the bright green of new grass.  I was looking for something to represent this change and while there were plenty of examples, the most evocative indication cannot be captured by photons; it was the smell of newly cut grass on the playing fields near our home.  The gang mower was just passing me and the perfume from the grass was like a physical hit.

Our garden is also shrugging off its winter coat and new growth is everywhere.  Our purple acer is now mature and stands a good 6 feet tall with an even wider spread.  Last week the leaves were tight buds, but have now begun to open so in the end I chose this image, with the backdrop of blue sky and the beech tree lit by later sun.