Sunday 22 September 2013

The joys of a New Zealand spring. As I wandered past a couple of hyacinths today, my nostrils were caressed with the perfume of these delightful flowers. Given that my sniffing ability has drastically reduced with advancing age, this was a rather impressive feat, and can only emphasize how powerful it would smell to someone with a fully operational snout!


Another harbinger of spring is the flowering cherry, which normally is a rather drab occupant of the garden, but which redeems itself with a glorious display of pink blossoms, just as we need it, to signal the end of winter.


The Japanese have a children's song, Haru ga Kita - Spring Has Come - the second verse of which, goes:

Hana ga saku
Hana ga saku
Doko ni saku
Yama ni saku
Sato ni saku
No ni mo saku

(Flowers bloom, flowers bloom,
Where do flowers bloom?
Here in the mountains,
Here in the village,
And here in the fields.)

Which about says it all, really.




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