Tuesday 9 April 2013

There Are Changes In My World - Spring Will Conquer


Nine days into the cruellest month
there are no lilacs breeding out of the dead land.
 

At the beginning of April winter still kept us warm, 
covering earth in forgetful snow
feeding a little life with dried tubers.
It was the memory of spring which sustained life.


 But soon spring rains will stir dull roots.
 Lambs defy the chill winds from the East,
and the first rays of the sun melt winter’s cover for the last time.


New life is emerging all around us,
 there is no gainsaying nature's determination to overcome.


Secretive primroses nestle on sunny banks, 
 at noon opening their golden faces to unaccustomed warmth 


and rock cress clings to stone walls,
keeping a precarious foothold in the narrowest crevice. 



(with thanks to T.S. Eliot)



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52 comments:

  1. Yes, and "mixing memory with desire."

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  2. Welcome spring. If you stop by my place you will read that we got our 4 days...!!

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  3. OH, that lovely picture of the lamb. I love it. I must say it is still very, very beautiful in your part of the world, even if spring is taking its time getting to you. :-)

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  4. ahh lambs
    what other hope/signs do you need
    cheers

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  5. It's a battle against the elements this year. Love your pictures, Friko, especially the one of the lamb. I've just put up a blog and then read yours. I am feeling just the same as you are (wasn't copying, honest :)

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  6. You're ahead of us, Friko, so thanks for the reminder of what is to come.

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  7. i hope nature hangs onto that determination...cool pic of the lambling...smiles....it has finally turned here...hot this week...so nice and the life is starting to really come out and spread...

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  8. Ach in welch wunderbarer Welt du wohnst !

    Einen guten Mittwoch dir.

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  9. Well let's hope the promises are fulfilled...and that you don't go into a frenzy of worry about the garden open day.

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  10. Oh, what sweet lambs and that beautiful cascade of purple. Yes, yes, yes! Spring WILL come because we will WILL it to arrive and bring with it such bounty! You're on your way!

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  11. That first picture is amazing, Friko. Did you take that? And what is that structure almost in the center (a house or barn)??

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  12. Invincible Spring!

    The first photos of your country absorbed me in admiration


    ALOHA from Honolulu
    Comfort Spiral
    ~ > < } } ( ° > <3

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  13. https://itunes.apple.com/us/course/creative-writing-master-class/id550002605#

    This is the link to the writing class you asked about. I should caution you that is only can be read in I-tunes on an I-pod or I-pad. Neither of which I have.The videos can be seen on a windows PC, though.

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  14. This is a beautiful post, both words and images... really lovely.

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  15. What a lovely bit of hope this brings to our dismal day here. I cannot, will not say which photo I love the best, but, the primrose made me smile.

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  16. We seem to be plunging into Spring at an alarming pace -- two weeks ago we had snow - now the windows are open and we're having gin and tonics on the porch... but no lambs. I wish we had lambs.

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  17. It still looks quite beautiful, even with the snow. I always tihnk of February as the cruelest month. Here April is generally perfect (but this year we just now got around to Spring).

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  18. Your photos show an emerging spring - finally! I do love the snow-dappled fields, though. You know me! Snowing here.

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  19. I love watching the tiny lambs in rural fields in the spring.

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  20. Beautiful photos! We have no flowers here yet, but we remain hopeful.
    K

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  21. The lambs are sweet Friko, das Primelchen auch, but most I love this rock cress! What a beautiful sight of it you posted! I wonder, if it would tolerate the hot and dry climate here and grow in our garden? We have several stone walls there. If I really won't forget to water it all summer? What do you think?

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  22. I'm glad your winter is finally packing its bags and heading our way. Summer has been relucatant to leave us, goodness knows where autumn got to. Can't complain about the weather but this drought really must end soon. Love your lamb shots, I find them dreadfully stupid creatures but they sure are cute.

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  23. Wunderschön, Friko!
    Das erste Bild sieht aus wie ein Linolschnitt.
    Hier scheint nun die Macht des Winters auch endgültig gebrochen zu sein.

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  24. Hallo Friko,
    das oberste Foto finde ich irre, wie die Farben zwischen weiß und grün wechseln. Da komme ich fast zu der Einstellung zurück, dass der Winter auch etwas romantisches und verzauberndes hat, so sehr wir uns alle ihn weggewünscht haben. Bei dem zweiten Foto hatte ich übrigens diesen Montag ein ähnliches Erlebnis. Ich bin mit dem Rennrad an die Ahr geradelt. Mit rund 10 Grad waren die Temperaturen frühlingshaft, aber oben auf den Bergkuppen der Eifel sah man noch Schnee liegen. Aber Stückchen für Stückchen soll es ja noch wärmer werden.

    Gruß Dieter

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  25. Yes, the signs are there, but you still have to look quite hard, don't you?

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  26. Hi Friko .. Spring is on its way finally ... love the rock cress curtain though .. amazing plant and photo.

    Enjoy the Spring springing around you .. cheers Hilary

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  27. This is such a lovely post. Spring makes us all feel so much better, doesn't it. When the flowers grow so does my spirit.

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  28. Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful. I had never seen rock cress before - it is simply stunning. Re the lambs. Why ever is the phrase 'gentle as a lamb'? No-one who has seen them head-butting their mothers would describe them as gentle.
    I hope spring romps your way without turning back.

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  29. heerlijke foto,s vooral de laatste wat is dit mooi.

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  30. Friko, seeing this post really has brought me smiles. Spring's arrival has a lovely face in your neighborhood. That reclining lamb sends such a sweet message...a calendar lamb for sure.

    I don't think I've ever seen rock cress before. Thank you for the introduction.

    xo

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  31. Reading your words and looking at the beautiful lamb and tumult of rock cress -- I could the coming of, dare I say it, Spring...

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  32. I love your photos. The sunbathing lamb has the right idea. May he avoid becoming lamb chops for a long time. My favorite shot is the Rockcress. Love climbers, especially this color.

    RE MT, sorry your crowd so thoroughly disliked her. Partly, I think this is owing to her humble origins in a class concious society. She believed in getting ahead on merit, and she believed in the Free Market.

    As for being pushy, having heard that accusation many times when I was a manager, I always wanted to ask the man who said it to me (it was always a man), How is it men are not considered "pushy" and women who try to get things changed are?

    For us women trying to make it in a man's world, it was hell in those days. And yes, she was a role model for women like me.

    To make an omelet you must break a few eggs, it is said. Things would have been much more dire for the UK economy and subsequently everyone living there, if MT hadn't broken a few eggs and reversed the downward spiral that followed the War.

    We always want things to be better, but we don't accept that to make it better, some things must change. Dianne

    PS have you seen the dectective series 'Scott and Bailey'? Excellent BBC production, now shown on Public Television here in the States and telling it like it is for women in a man's world.

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  33. "secretive primroses"

    Love your words AND photos.

    =)

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  34. Yes, it's been a long wait for spring this year but all the more welcome for that. Lovely photos - as usual!

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  35. The pictures are very beautiful. April is proving itself an expert in self-promotion around here. The weather has been great. High 60s today.

    When spring comes I'm sure we will all be discharging some pent-up energy...then soon the electric humming of bees.

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  36. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  37. Ah, spring! That little lamb, the waterfall of rock cress, well everything, is lovely to see.

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  38. Spring will not be defeated, though the battles be long. Sweet lambs and beautiful rock cress, but the first photo of the snow streaking the hills captured my attention. Such lovely lines.

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  39. The endless cycle of the seasons, it's always interesting to watch it unfold, new each year. I guess a year is just about a long enouigh time to forget for real just how wonderful Spring is!

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  40. Ah, what a spin on Eliot's cruelest month, Friko! Such perfect pictures of the spring tiptoeing in, and that tumbling cascade of rock cress just makes me dream.
    Now I can say it at last - Happy Spring!

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  41. I'm so glad to see that Mother Nature didn't forget about your part of the world - I was getting worried that you'd been thrown into some second ice-age. Has there been flooding? I hope not. After the winter you've had you deserve some time to enjoy a long, warm, slow spring and all the new life. You've written about it beautifully.
    There, I've said it - it was beautiful.

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  42. Cute lambs, and I love the rock cress!

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  43. Oh that lamb's face is just so lovely. And the flowery, rocky ledge. Spring is such a wondrous time despite its resistance.

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  44. Beautiful pics. Spring is stretching her arms. All doors and windows open for the first time today - the house will breathe in what is to come.

    (I might even put away my boots 'til autumn...)

    Anna :o]

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  45. Sweet pictures – I am pleased that you seem so hopeful.

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  46. Such beautiful and poetic spring scenes. Nature is quite wonderful..isn't she?

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  47. This was truly beautiful! An inspired match of photos and poetry.
    We're having a snowstorm. Made this post even more fun to gaze upon. I do like variety. Green would be variety up here at the moment--LOL! :)

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  48. It makes me want to gambol in the green meadow...

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