When Life Gives You Lemons…

…make lemonade.  Or photos, if the lemons take the form of snow in May.

Hmmm…maybe it’s my fault we are still getting snow in May.  I didn’t take my DSLR out to capture the beauty of winter until March 28 (I did kick myself a couple of times for going cross-country skiing in incredible beauty with just my compact camera).  The Creator just keeps giving me opportunities to add to my winter portfolio…

And really, it does no good to whine (although I did my share of that) when 20+ cm of snow arrives on May 3 and 4.  It’s easier to like snow in January, but May snow has its own charms–I found representatives of every season during yesterday’s stroll in a small natural area in our neighbourhood.  Winter was the dominant season, of course, with snow covering everything, but I found new growth as you’d expect in May, a remnant berry on a cotoneaster bush to represent summer, and dead leaves still hanging on from last fall.

I was disappointed that the multitude of crocuses I’d seen on Wednesday were completely buried under the snow.  Still, it was a serene morning and the quiet quickly settled me and opened my senses to other beauty, like the tears on the aspens and some leaves hanging on since autumn, almost glowing with the saturated colour granted by the saturation of moisture.  Deep in the aspen copse, cotoneaster (I think) leaves are starting to unfurl, as are gooseberries, just steps from the glowing dead leaves.  Chickadees twitter exuberantly.  Aaahhh…nature, alive and well.  I want to stay here forever, immersed in this tiny fragment of the natural world embedded in the built community.

But I know I’m short of time and I still want to find a snow-laden crocus.  I carry on to an open hilltop and wander towards the empty playground.  Then I see it, the snowy crocus that will give me the image I dreamed about, bent under the weight of the snow, its companions buried alive.  Oh yes, and look at the water pearls adorning it!