A Change of Season

Every September the whole of Brisbane turns a brilliant shade of purple as Jacaranda trees blossom; heralding the start of spring. Ever since I was a little girl I have loved these trees, and every time I pass them now I am taken back to afternoons in my childhood where the blooming Jacarandas sent the message that the summer school holidays were not far away. I spent many lunch times in high school seated under a particular Jacaranda, laughing with my friends, sharing tales and secrets, and enjoying the strengthening spring sunshine. When I had graduated and my sister had moved into high school, she and her friends sat under the same tree; Jacarandas are to me a little piece of growing memory, living history, that comes back to me every spring.

Perhaps these lilac tinted memories are part of the reason that spring is my favourite season of the year. Yes, I love the long days of summer and the heat and humidity that soak into every pore as the sun practically beats the earth into molten copper some days. The relief of autumn is always welcome as the days grow shorter and food more hearty, and winter nights snuggled in my bed with a cup of tea and a book feed the soul during a time of hibernation.

But that first bloom of spring; the whisper that starts in a corner of the garden and spreads rapidly until it is a chorus of colour and scent throughout the garden, the street, the city; that is where my joy lies.
If you stand quietly in the garden at this time of year, you can nearly hear the earth waking from her winter slumber, look closely and you can see daily progress in the leaves and flowers that celebrate the longer sunlit hours, and breath deeply of the life that seems to fragrance the air along with the flowers.
Let yourself feel lighter. Take a message from the trees, and the flowers and let yourself blossom.
Come into the sunshine.