Happy spring! At least to the mid-latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere. This will be a quick post. I’m working on a couple of longer articles that I’m excited about. But with my teaching schedule, I’m not sure when I’ll get them done, and I’d like to take a moment to celebrate spring with you. Welcome, sunshine and flowers! (Okay, you’re welcome, too, dear rain that keeps things green)
I hope you all had lovely spring holidays! St. Patrick’s Day, Passover, Easter, Nowruz (which is my favorite of the world’s new years; it makes more sense to me for a new year to start at the beginning of spring than in the middle of winter), Eid-al-Fitr, and Rama Navami are celebrations we’ve had so far. And we have some secular celebrations coming up, too, like Earth Day and Memorial Day.
Spring is a beautiful time of year, with the symbol of new life prevalent in the natural world and spiritual disciplines. I hope you all enjoy it.
Here in the Eugene/Springfield area, the camas lilies are in full bloom right now, sometimes in full fields. The best place to see them in Eugene is Wayne Morse Family Farm (aka Morse Ranch) in South Eugene. The trail through the lower (north) end of the park goes through a whole patch of them. The best place to see them in Springfield is Willamette Heights Park, up the little trail from the grassy area to the summit. Here are a couple photos of them from past years. (My photos from the same spot in Willamette Heights park last week were a bit too high of contrast with the sun and shade, so the only pic from this year is the one in the sun up above). Enjoy!
Oh, and yes, I did get a spring break this year, now that I’m back to teaching. We took our family to Central Oregon to visit my cousins in their new home in Bend. It was beautiful! Mountains and rock formations galore! I’ll hopefully post some pictures from it soon, or at least incorporate them into future posts. Happy spring, everyone!
The Compass Rose Queen 