flowering trees
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Springtime in the Desert

This week’s Photo Challenge is to celebrate Spring in photos. Sadly, here in Minnesota we have had the wettest April in 130 years and our Spring is very far behind. We don’t even have leaves on the trees yet nor do we have our gorgeous spring flowers. Instead of lamenting on how awful the last six months of weather has been here in the nordic Midwest, I thought I’d share some beautiful photos from our Spring break trip in early April to Tucson, Arizona.

Springtime in the desert is one of the most beautiful places to be. If you have never been to the Southwest before in the spring, it may sound ironic that spring inside a desert can be green. Yet Arizona experiences a beautiful, green spring with tons of rebirth, brilliant flowering plants, trees and cactus, and song birds from all over the place heading north for the summer. It is a wonderful time to visit Arizona.

Here are some of the lovely Spring photos I took during our recent visit to Tucson. You will see that it is the perfect time to visit!

Cactus are budding and blooming…

Desert Cactus buds

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Minnesota Fall Leaves
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Minnesota’s Spectrum of Color

Fall has always been my absolute favorite time of year. As the days and nights grow shorter and the sun shines her glorious luminous light, the leaves ever so slowly begin to change. This year, fall has been coming at a snail’s pace given our Indian Summer. Yet during the last few days the leaves have begun to turn into their magical tapestry of colors. Hues from pumpkin oranges, to scarlet reds and golden yellows delight the eyes. It is nature’s way of rewarding us with beauty and preparing us for the long, colorless winter ahead.

“One of the secrets of a happy life is continuous small treats”.  – Iris Murdoch

Minnesota Fall Leaves

Minnesota Fall Leaves

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Itchy eyes and the early arrival of a Minnesota spring

Spring has come a month early this year in Minnesota.  After an unseasonably warm winter with hardly any snow to amply cover the ground or build a snowman, Spring has launched full force in what most people consider “Minne-snowta“.

The ice off nearby city lakes such as my beloved Lake Harriet faded into our memories almost a month early.  The trees are in full bloom and the allergy index is high. My eyes are itching, my nose is running and I have desperately scrambled to unpack my summer cloths while the temperatures soar on average 30-40 degrees higher than normal.  The average high for today of 44 degrees F is a long ago memory as each and every day another record is set and it feels like June.

In fact, it seems like we just skipped past Spring all together and jumped into summer.  But the telltale signs of the trees, bushes and flowers in full bloom reminds me that yes it is still spring.  The spectacular showing of brilliant reborn green has been making my eyes water as I marvel at their sensational beauty and watch the world around me come back to life.   It gives me joy, inspiration and miraculous hope for the future as I witness the rebirth of Spring and embrace the phenomenal changing of the seasons that encompass the circle of life.  

Here are some of my favorite photos I took today during my morning walk around Minnehaha Creek and Lake Harriet nearby my home.  

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