Steeps, Tints, Swells

“People deal too much with the negative, with what is wrong. Why not try and see positive things, to just touch those things and make them bloom?” – Thich Nhat Hanh

“The February sunshine steeps your boughs and tints the buds and swells the leaves within.” – William Cullen Bryant

A bulb in dirt five weeks ago, now on the tipping point of bloom. Native to South America, Amaryllis are tropical bulbs that are harvested in the summer and then chilled to prepare them to bloom. Given light, water and time, the flower bursts on the scene in brilliant red, a glimpse of spring amidst the restoration of winter.

Seasons and cycles teach us to sow, take root, seek light, be nourished by water and patiently wait for the certainty of bud, bloom and burst to unfold in due time. From dirt to bloom, seed to harvest, winter to spring, start to finish to start again, we discover the journey of the circle, the flow of the river.

Steeps, tints and swells.

“The earth’s crust has not yet stopped heaving and plunging under our feet. Mountain ranges are still being thrust up on the horizon. Granites are still growing under the continental masses. Nor has the organic world ceased to produce new buds at the tips of its countless branches.” – Pierre Teilhard de Chardin