The volunteer lupines that first sprang up a couple of years ago, on the other hand, are doing well enough, considering how odd the weather has been. About two dozen of the plants are blooming, and perhaps fifty or sixty more might or might not bloom, depending on how they were affected by the recent wet and chilly nights, and the afternoon when it nearly snowed. Though their blossoms are on the small side this year, they add a nice touch of lavender blue to the green patches of the yard. They are a color the sky sometimes takes on at dusk, when the sunset has faded. As pleasant as they are to look at any time of day, I most enjoy watching the lupines as they fade into dusk.
As I watched them this evening the frogs resumed their croaking, and even a few crickets began to chirp. The evenings are growing milder again, and still milder evenings lie ahead. It may be weeks early, but this is perfect spring weather. The day was not quite hot, and night will be not quit cold, and the variation between them will be just enough to prevent me from finding it dull. When the weather grows hotter and there is no longer a cool period even late at night I am apt to get both bored and cranky. Summer can be an enervating time, but spring is energizing. I intend to spend some time outdoors tonight. The moon is waning and rises late, the sky is mostly clear, and I'll be able to watch the stars. Orion will soon be departing for summer, and I have things to contemplate with him. Tonight will be a good time to do it.
Sunday Verse
LXXVI
by Emily Dickinson
Apparently with no surprise
To any happy Flower
The Frost beheads it at its play—
In accidental power—
The blonde assassin passes on—
The sun proceeds unmoved
To measure off another Day
For an approving God.