Amazing Views of New Life

Maybe it's because I have weathered a year of a pandemic, but for some reason the appearance of new life is more intriguing this year for me. Spring has always edged out the other three seasons of the year as my favorite. But in the past I was more interested in seeing fully blooming flowers and trees. This year every little shoot peaking out of the ground grabs my attention. This amazing shoot is one of my peonies. At this stage in its life it looks nothing like what it will become in a few weeks and months. The fact that it starts another year as a bright burgundy shoot is amazing, as are the little, perfect "fingers" of furled leaves. Every day now I go out and see what other changes have been made in it as it grows bigger and taller. I do this, too, with the tiny leaves on my baby dogwood trees and other plants in my yard that are beginning a new journey in the cycle of life. They are all so amazing. Each of them holds promise of the greater beauty they will soon share with the world. I am so thankful to be able to behold their growth for yet another year. Look around you. We are all surrounded, whether we recognize it or not, with the continuing promise of new life and new beginnings, which, even in the bleakest of times, can lift us up and give us a reason to smile and to have hope for better and more beautiful times. Sometimes this promise can be found in these tiny new beginnings of returning life. Look down and around you and see what you can find. And when you do, smile and be thankful.