The trouble with Spring is that we, of the Northern hemisphere, eagerly await a beautifully orchestrated season filled with soft,warm weather that draws up legions of palely beautiful flowers, still yawning, from their comfortable winter beds to carpet the bosky clearings in pale green leaved forests as part of the acid fuelled fantasy that we remember as Spring. The Spring that we all remember only happened in a near identical communal memory, which we all luckily possess, enabling each of us to bemoan its absence to another in the full knowledge that we can both draw on similar detail from the mentally shared romantic illustrations of Primavere.
Maybe my failure to capture the mythical essence of Spring in my images is because I’ve already decided that it doesn’t exist, or if it does, I fail to make it look like the Arthur Rackham illustration that has attached itself to my phychic retina. The thick clumps of wild flowers are bereft of pixies this year, so no point wasting good digital space on them. As it turns out, my attention span in the quest for the spirit of Spring is short as it takes very little time for me to realise that I would much rather find the spirit of William Eggleston. That might be because I already have a very clear picture of Spring which, if tampered with, will only whither and die.
As a postscript I want to mention that I get a great deal of pleasure from reading these two blogs - http://thekitchensgarden.wordpress.com/ and http://kateshrewsday.com/ - and I recommend that you look at them yourselves as these two people can write.
I can’t see any sign of autumn or winter in those pictures…
Nor any pixies:)
Now you’ve gone and ruined everything! We grow up in this part of the country knowing that we’ll never experience a real Spring, not like over “there” — and there has come to mean anywhere but here. Now you tell me that there is no Spring there, too. I’ve lost my will to gambol.
I was an unlucky “gamboller” myself:)
You’re absolutely right about spring. And yet…last week, in Normandy, I actually saw calves leaping about in the fields under the apple tree blossom. Unreal for this city girl.
I shall keep my eyes skinned for leaping calves:)
Well thank you Roger. I am very honoured to be mentioned in your page. You will laugh though because i was reading Kate’s page today and then I read your hands off Grandpa comment and chuckling, clicked on your link to pop in and see what you are up to! And there you were mentioning Kate and I in the same line! Kate’s work is wonderful as is yours. Have a lovely relaxing day, I hope you are warm.. c
Hope those pigs are behaving themselves:)
those landscape picyures look pretty sureal !
That’s what I thought when I came back with what at first appeared a very ordinary set of pictures.
sorry about last message my spelchecker didn’t work (and am completly dyslexic)
Always such blue skies!
Not this morning, but my imagination is working OK:)
To hell with pixies, I’ll take the spirit of William Eggleston any day! I saw the most wonderful Eggleston exhibit in Chicago a couple of years ago. And we even share the same alma mater (well, I think he only went there for a year or so, but he supposedly got his first Leica while there so clearly it had some good influence). Your spring looks beautiful above for sure.
I’ve only seen Eggleston in books and on the net – very envious:)
What are we without our dreams of spring?? Leave me alone in my fantasy world, it’s quite lovely here.. you are welcome to join as your photos pass muster or pass mustard.. whatever that saying is. ps already following c at her farm and off to visit the Kate xo
Dreamland is certainly a warmer place than the Vendee at the moment!
Ah, the Myth of the Gentle Spring…it resides in the same partof our collective memory as the White Christmas and the Perfect Dinner Party. We get glimpses in real life, but seldom more…
To answer the question your title poses, Yes. I *do* believe in Magic. The thought of life without it is too dreary to bear. I have yet to find (or create) the Secret Garden in my mind’s eye as a whole, but I find bits and pieces of it when I’m willing to look…
You can keep your pixies…nasty bits of baggage, they are.
I’ve ejected the pixies – I came to same conclusion:)
Definitely love Celi’s blog, but thanks for letting us in on the second blog!
Hope you enjoy it:)
Superb landscapes regardless of the state of spring!
Many thanks for that:)