Overnight...almost.

The last time I visited the blogosphere, I had just returned from a mini-retreat to the beach.  This time, the retreat was practically in my backyard.  A little over a week ago, I hiked through the gardens, looking for signs of spring - a bud here or there, or a tender shoot of a brave tulip or paperwhite testing the possibility of coming out of hiding.  The tree in the photo above was full of buds, but they still seemed fairly tight and fearful.  I took pictures of a few little perks of green to share with my preschool story-time charges for the week ahead, and thought we might still have a bit of a wait for the glories of spring.  Then on Tuesday, one of the staff on site sent pictures of the very same trees in full bloom.  Practically overnight,  everything had awakened in an absolute explosion of pink.

That means that today, on my weekend time with no duties to distract me, I will return to the gardens with my camera, as I always do in the spring, and record the exuberance of the tulip magnolias, and their rain of petals down to the gravel pathways of those treasured 9 acres.  And I will say to myself, "This is what my hard work is about," and I will be ready to take on the challenges of the new year.