Late spring/early summer is a glorious time to be out in the woods. Bird song and the tap, tap, tapping of local woodpeckers is so loud, so distinctive, that you’d swear someone had planted speakers in the trees and cranked the volume up as high as it would go. The air feels softer, it smells cleaner, and the colors of the trees and plants reflect that rain-drenched freshness.
My mother died in early summer. It was many years ago, when I was still a teenager. Every spring, as the air begins to warm, that deep feeling of loss resurfaces, and I just want to stay quiet. This year, I’m focusing on the beauty around me.
May is Clean Air Month. I’ll have more about that next week.
Shifting Gears 
Beautiful Photos and words, Judith!
And such exceptional beauty it is. Whenever we are feeling lost, it roots us right, doesn’t it?
Gros Bisous.
Your description of late spring evokes perfectly what happens here. And we share a re-surfaced feeling of deep loss, and a need for quiet, during the times each of our mothers died. Following your lead, I will remember to focus on the beauty all around next March 18. Thank you even more, Judith.