Good Friday

This week I took a few quiet moments and snapped some photographs of all the spring blooming in our backyard.

Photography forces me to slow down, really look and enjoy the beauty that surrounds me.  I don’t do it enough.  Unless of course admiring nature’s beauty means gazing upon my face in the mirror each morning.  I can’t even finish that sentence without snickering.

We have two red maple trees in our backyard.  They literally have the most beautiful blooming process I have ever seen.

The process begins with hundreds of buds that seem to appear overnight on each of the trees.

And then those buds bloom into the most beautiful yellow-green flowers.

The flowers envelop the tree in a sea of petals.

And from these amazing flowers spring forth the leaves that give the tree their name.

Only something nature could produce so perfectly.

The maple leaves peek out ever so slightly…

…slowly waking up from a long winter’s nap.

And then they begin to stretch their legs and spread their wings.

Magnificent.

Our pear tree in bloom isn’t too shabby either.

The amount of detail in each bloom is just lovely.

Is anyone else hungry for a ripe and juicy pear right now?

And one of my personal favorites…lilacs.  I think I can actually smell them through the screen.  It was a windy day so most of my shots had an impressionistic blur to them.  This was as clear as it got.

May the beauty that surrounds you take your breath away…today and always.

And may you remember the One who created it all…just for you.

Happy (early) Easter!