Melinda West | West Gardens Basketry

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The Signs of Spring

March 19, 2011 By Melinda

Since the beginning of March, even under the darkness of storm clouds, with flooding rains, and fierce winds that have tested the tallest trees, purging them of their weakest branches, the signs of spring are all around us.

Perhaps because of the darkness overhead, I’ve been noticing more of the subtle details than ever before. How the leaves of the Indian Plum open first, pointing straight up, and unfurl like a plume of feathers with a cluster of tiny white-bead-flowers hanging down. And oppositely, noticing how the deciduous huckleberry leaves first present themselves facing downward, with a miniature blossom-petal “hat” on top, pale white with a tiny stroke of pink blush.

Deciduous Huckleberry – Not quite blooming…but crimson with anticipation…

 

 

…as their tiny pink and white ‘caps’ appear!

Each circle of seasons we live through, brings another opportunity to experience a new layer of depth and understanding about our place in the scheme of all that lives. We are the witnesses to the sequence and timing of what the living things around us are doing.

 

Indian Plum with clusters of white blossoms.

Filed Under: Plants and Places Tagged With: Deciduous Huckleberry, early spring, Indian Plum

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About Melinda

Forty years ago, while sitting on the beach playing with my young children, I made my first basket out of a pile of willow trimmings someone had tossed there. It looked wildly made like a crazy bird’s nest. While being together with my two sons on a beautiful Pacific Northwest shoreline, this simple experience of crafting with the natural materials at hand kindled a passion for creating forms using plant fibers. I thank my family, my community, and all my teachers for cultivating this gift in me.
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