Maria von Brincken Landscape Garden Design

All week I’ve been heartsick.  The April 15^th Boston Marathon Bombings and the subsequent Lock-down of Metropolitan Boston yesterday have been a distraction to say the least.  Last Monday felt like a truly spring day –night temps were above freezing and days without the need for a heavy coat, hat and scarf.  Trees and shrubs budding, spring bulbs flowering in the warmer southern exposures, winter’s siege seemed to finally lifting. It was a great day for the marathon—not too hot or cold. Indeed celebration was in the air, until–until our peace was ruptured.  And, I was experiencing how it feels like to live in war torn countries. (As an aside, there’s a great song that always make me thoughtful—Loudon Wainwright III ‘s  –‘Pretty Good Day’. http://www.metrolyrics.com/pretty-good-day-lyrics-loudon-wainwright-iii.html ) See lyrics at end of this blog.

Photo by Suarez.

Photo by Suarez.

We humans use flowers to show sympathy—impromptu roadside tributes feature layers of them. Indeed there’s a mounding memorial to the dead and wounded in Boston at the closed street intersection. Something about their beauty gives us some solace—not lightness but some solace. I found myself buying a second bouquet this week of brightly hued blooms.  Outside I looked for and treasured the emerging early spring flowering bulbs and perennials I enjoy yearly.

Here’s a couple of the flowering plants I photographed but not all that I savored. It’s pouring rain outside, so I can’t take better photos today. Hopefully you’ll get the beauty of the moment from these images of the early spring flowering tree Star Magnolia and the blue spring bulb Scilla.

Following are the lyrics from Loudon Wainwright III – Pretty Good Day 

I slept through the night, I got through to the dawn

I flipped a switch and the light went on

I got out of bed and I put some clothes on

Oh, it’s a pretty good day so far

 

I turned the tap, there was cold, there was hot

I put on my coat to go to the shop

I stepped outside and I didn’t get shot

Oh, it’s a pretty good day so far

 

I didn’t hear any sirens or explosions

No murders coming in from those heavy guns

No UN tanks and I didn’t see one

It’s a pretty good day so far

 

No snipers in windows taking a peak

No people panic, running scared through the streets

I didn’t see any bodies without arms, legs or feet

It’s a pretty good day

 

There was plasma bandages and electricity

Food, wood and water and the air was smoke free

No camera crews from my TV

 

It was all such a strange sight to be home

Nobody was frightened, wounded, hungry or cold

And the children seemed normal, they didn’t look old

It’s a pretty good day so far

 

I walked through a park, you would not believe it

There in the park, there were a few trees left

And on some branches, there were a few leaves

 

I slept through the night, I got through to the dawn

I flipped the switch and the light went on

I wrote down my dream, I made it this song

Oh, it’s a pretty good day so far