Glorious can’t even begin to describe today. I woke up in a good mood, and decided to run a few errands, but the weather was so pretty and sunny (though a bit blustery) and everything was blooming. The first thing I heard outside my house was a cacophony of birds. Woodland animals are beginning to make their way our of their winter hiding places, and there’s a family of groundhogs that live behind my house, and over the last few days I’ve seen standing in the backyard, sniffing the air on their little hind legs.

(Click all images to enlarge).

A small green pond on the property of the meditation center, peeking through trees. The trees here are still mostly bare because it’s so high up.

I couldn’t help but feel a little overcome by all the beauty surrounding me, so I decided to make a day of it and take a lone road trip over to Black Mountain, where there is a free meditation center I sometimes go to. The drive into the mountains is beautiful. NC-Highway 9 winds gently through the foothills of the Black Mountains, slowly ascending. I rolled my windows down and listened to music as I drove. Birds sang and the trees that are no longer bare showed every color of the rainbow, and I mean EVERY color.

Some sort of berries on an ornamental tree.

I tried to capture the “iridescent fall colors” here but I’m not sure I succeeded.

I don’t know if anyone has noticed this, but I have (and wrote about it last year too). April can sometimes look a lot like mid-October. All the fall colors are there, as the trees begin to put out leaves, but before the chlorophyll that turns them green kicks in. The reverse process happens in the fall–the leaves change colors because they lose chlorophyll as the days become shorter and cooler. The spring “fall” colors correspond exactly to the colors seen in the fall, but are a little more muted and have a kind of translucence to them. But it doesn’t end there. There are pink, white, yellow and lilac blossoms everywhere, and the newly leafed trees contain a wonderful pale green iridescence that’s not present any other time of the year.

I used to prefer the fall when I was younger, but can’t see how I ever did. In my opinion, fall is lame in comparison. No matter how pretty autumn trees are, you know everything’s dying, and winter is not far away. The colors in the fall also seem sadder and more somber, shading more into deep purples and browns, at least where I live.

Some formal gardens near my house, on the way home.

On the street where I live.

Now I’ve got to go listen to U2’s “Beautiful Day,” because it truly was a beautiful day, and I just feel so relaxed and good right now.