Spring Green Comes In Many Shades


I'm starting the month of May with a week-long vacation to get over a sinus infection and get my strength back. The weather has been beautiful, so it's been very therapeutic to just sit in the sunshine, breathe the fresh air, and rest my weary bones. I'm praising God today for paid vacation days!


This time of year in Iowa comes with a variety of shades of green. Each tree is a slightly different hue, and they darken to a beautiful deep green as the summer progresses. Right now it looks like Bob Ross dapped his paintbrush in about a dozen different greens from his palette and dotted our forrest with them.


The puppies have been cooped up with me for the past four weeks while I've been sick, so they're more than happy to get out in the fresh air, too. Cooper has to stay on leash for a while yet, until his recall is significantly better, but Diesel gets free run of his space. We have lots of wildlife right now, so he's been investigating everything for the past couple of days.


You can easily see the difference between the darker green trees that leafed out first, the lighter ones that have just popped, and the trees that are still pretty bare with just their seeds. It's always fascinating to try and guess which ones are going to turn first because I'm almost never right...


This is the cove of the small pond where the snapping turtles live. They like to sunbathe on those fallen trees when the water is low enough, and they're so skittish of people that they'll plunge into the water as soon as they hear the door open. They're not very stealthy.


We have hundreds of wild blackberry bushes scattered all over the property, and they're in full bloom-stage right now. I keep an eye out starting in May so that when July and August roll around, I'll know exactly where to look for the plump, ripe berries. Yes, I have a Pinterest board full of recipes just waiting for them!


As I continue to recover and get some renewed strength, I know we'll be out and about more on the property. I know the boys will be excited to explore, and we'll watch as the greens pop and darken even more. Bring on the summer greens!

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