Friday, May 11, 2012

Springtime Turns Our Fancy

My first drawing with
MyBrushes iPhone app
 When spring comes
to the northeastern corner of Pennsylvania, we find ourselves recalling springs past and dreaming of lying in the sun (with hat and sunscreen of course) in a month or two. The first sign of spring I saw this year were the leaves of the Star Flower plants in the woods, and then two weeks ago I saw a pristine white flower amid the leaves. Last week there were more. Before spring began to emerge up here at just under 2,000 feet, I contented myself with drawing from memory and from life around me with my new iPhone app, MyBrushes. This is such fun to use!

A recent walk through the woods to get to the lake revealed the violets are out once again. Their rich, purple hue reaches deep within me to evoke a kind of joy. A metaphysical healer I knew as a child maintained that purple is the color of healing. It has been a favorite of mine throughout my life. In fact, my Sweet 16 birthday cake was a chocolate hemisphere with icing violets and their leaves from the Farmer's Market in LA.
  
 
<>                        Los Angeles Farmers Market

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Common Blue Violet
Viola sororia


I also saw lovely clusters of delicate Bluets in the
lawn in a road median. They are short plants with
flowers in varying shades of blue, some nearly white.
Bluets
Houstonia caerulea




Starflower
Trientalis borealis


And then at last we turn towards baseball at this time of year, having endured the first month of the season with all its injuries to emerge now five games above .500, which for the New York Mets is pretty good!
New York Mets batting helmet
Let's Go Mets!
(MyBrushes creation by me)