Forsythia’s Spring Affirmation
Subtitle: Spring On, Spring Off, Spring On…
April 2022 just cannot find its stride, its groove, or its identity. Is it springtime or not? Still winter, or almost summer? It’s been two days of summery warmth and sunshine, then two days of cool rain and raw bluster, then two days of cold, wind, and frost at night. Rinse and repeat. April is particularly fickle and confusing this year!
Luckily, the march of spring flowers proceeds, undeterred by April’s capricious moods and temperature swings. Crocuses and daffodils popped up on schedule in March, the cherry trees were blooming in early-mid-April, and the forsythia a.k.a. “shadbush” is currently nearing the end of its flowering phase, about to go green. Glad to have the forsythia with its showy, unmistakable, golden-yellow blossoms to say, “YES, SPRINGTIME IS REALLY HERE!”
Forsooth, in its fullness of fruition, the fabulous forsythia’s flowers fully formalize, finalize, and affirm the fulfillment of freedom from the fist of February (and March).
// Russ Murray
So here are a couple of my recent forsythia Polaroids — one with flowers against a blurry, leafless Japanese maple and the other as a blurry yellow backdrop to a porch column with afternoon rhododendron shadows — proof that springtime has arrived.
Camera: Polaroid SLR 680SE (vintage)
Film: Polaroid 600 Color instant film (new)
Photographer: Russ Murray (vintage)
Location: Somewhere in Stamford, CT
See you tomorrow!
russ murray 