TIDES OF LIFE

Spring has sprung !
What a privilege to be alive and well to witness and enjoy another spring!
Spring . The beginning of new life. Vibrant and colourful life ,springing forth all around us bathed in glorious sunshine.
Spring signals another phase of the passage of time as the tides of life roll and flow from one season to another ; from autumn to winter, then to spring , to summer time and finally ending the circle in autumn.

There are signs which herald the advent of spring ;I call them icons of spring.
These are newborn lambs,the (mad?) May Hares, the Cherry blossoms and my little yellow darlings,the indefatigable daffodils of Hyde Park in Central London!
These "old faithfuls" show their brave little yellow faces as early as in the first week in February , each year.
As I have done in previous years, this year, I watched out for them and ,as usual, they did not disappoint me and millions of their faithful fans in London.
I got a text from my friend in Sloane Square,Knightsbridge, one morning in early February. He texted: " ur friends ah here!"
He drives by the park to get to work , so he saw them first.
Come closing time , I joined him from Islington and we went together to Hyde Park to see them . And there they were, hundreds of metres of them!
There was a crowd there already, admiring the carpet of yellow laid out by these daffodils.
Gorgeous carpet of Daffodils in Hyde Park, London.

Daffodils in Hyde Park
Originally uploaded by Jamie McK

It is amazing how these early daffodils defy the chilling breath of winter by sprouting in wintry , rainy February.
Playing their part as ordained by the Creator to add beauty to the earth and to give immense pleasure to millions; unfailingly, year after year. Bless them!
As for the lambs and hares , they do this wild "joy- dance" across fields in the countryside during spring. I don,t know who is crazier,the lambs or the hares !

Here are some delightful spring photos:


Holland Park Kyoto Garden
Originally uploaded by Jamie McK

The Kyoto Garden in full springtime bloom!
This is one of London's must-see beauty spots. Enjoy it.

The beauty of spring is inspiring. It is a period for sharing poems like these:-

SPRING by Lord Alfred Tennyson

Dip down upon the northern shore,
O sweet new-year, delaying long;
Thou doest expectant Nature wrong,
Delaying long, delay no more.

What stays thee from the clouded noons,
Thy sweetness from its proper place?
Can trouble live with April days,
Or sadness in the summer moons?

Bring orchis, bring the fox-glove spire,
The little speedwell's darling blue,
Deep tulips dashed with fiery dew,
Laburnums, dropping-wells of fire.

O thou, new-year, delaying long,
Delayest the sorrow in my blood,
That longs to burst a frozen bud,
And flood a fresher throat with song.

I CAN'T tell you, but you feel it
BY
Emily Dickinson



I CAN'T tell you, but you feel it
Nor can you tell me,
Saints with vanished slate and pencil
Solve our April day.
Sweeter than a vanished Frolic
From a vanished Green!
Swifter than the hoofs of Horsemen
Round a ledge of Dream!

Modest, let us walk among it,
With our "faces veiled,"
As they say polite Archangels
Do, in meeting God.

Not for me to prate about it,
Not for you to say
To some fashionable Lady�
"Charming April Day!"

ENJOY THE SIGHTS, SOUNDS AND SUNSHINE OF SPRING ; WHILE THEY LAST!