Among their Sweet Blossoms

After the snowdrop blossoms are spent

and the daffodils near their end; 

but before the dogwoods, hydrangeas, and azaleas bloom,

the flowering crabapple trees 

frost the landscape with their snowy white blooms.

People love them for their profusion of flowers.

But up close, they are even more beautiful,

with sturdy branches that beckon us in

and invite us to climb up

and sit awhile among their sweet blossoms. 

And that reminds me of the story "The Selfish Giant" by Oscar Wilde.

It's the story of an ogre with a beautiful garden,

but he didn't want to share it with anyone.

He chased the children away so he could have the garden to himself.

But one year, Winter stayed and Spring never came.

Snow and ice clung to the branches of the trees,

the cold wind blew,

and no flowers emerged from the grass.

Without Spring, the selfish giant grew old and sick. He knew he was dying. 

One day he looked out and saw a small child

standing in the cold and ice, trying to get up into a tree.

He was overcome with sorrow for what he had done,

so he ran out and lifted the child into the tree.

And suddenly ...

"Through a little hole in the wall the children had crept in,

and they were sitting in the branches of the trees.

 In every tree that he could see there was a little child.

 And the trees were so glad to have the children back again

    that they had covered themselves with blossoms ... ."

Here's to the gladness of Spring.
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