firsts, seconds, lasts and more
I wonder if it is a cultural thing to count "firsts" or if in all cultures somebody wanders back into the village and says, "hey, I saw my first mushroom of the spring!" We mark the changes of the seasons with "firsts", first frost, first snow, first trillium.
I was about to post these pictures when I realized that maybe I have become obsessed with "firsts of spring" this year. Maybe because it was a damn cold winter for me, or maybe I am clinging to these markers because they hold a continuity in a time when change is happening faster, or maybe, maybe I am getting boring as I age, and I need to get a life.
So this is the first trillium, even firster than first, because it is not even open yet!
Then I walked a little farther on and here is/are four, so can they count as first? or is it old hat now- are they no longer photograph worthy?
We don't say, oh look! my second violet of the spring, and my third! No, we then absorb them, just their beauty and fragrance and fleeting season, and we don't have to bother with numbers.
2 comments:
I have no firsts yet, here in Quebec because it is still snow covered and cooooollllddd!! I long for my home province of Nova Scotia because the snow doesn't lie so deep there and the weather is much more variable. But winter can be very fun here with skiing and other assorted winter funesses. Love your photos and postings!
The second groupings of trilliums certainly count as firsts because they're the first group. :-)
Good pondering material.
Some firsts are milestones and markers of progression, such as first baby steps. Other firsts are markers of the cycles of continuity: Comforting signs that all is as it should be, and the hope of other familiar things to come.
And yes, I believe the rapid, enforced changes continually spawned upon us (DST, or rabidly changing software) tend to be so disquieting - even if we're not aware - that we unconsciously seek the solace of the rhythms of nature.
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