Beijing spring in the blink of an eye

I lived in the Louisville, Kentucky, area for two one-year stints, first in 1997 and then again starting late summer 2002. There was a lot I really enjoyed about living in that part of the country. Each time I got to the point that I could say that, rather than wishing I were still living in wherever I was previous to my move, I would have to relocate again for work.

One of my fondest memories of living in Kentucky was the unbelievable spring. My recollection of those two springs I spent there might not be accurate.  I remember, though, the arrival of spring marked not by any sudden event, but a long, slow build-up to flowering glory.  For weeks (maybe) the redbud trees would appear to be made of fire, when the rays from a rising or setting sun hit them just right. The scarlet would eventually yield to delicate purple blooms contained underneath, a total surprise to me that first year. A closer view would have shown how something so red and aggressive-looking could reveal something so purple and fragile-looking. It wasn't that I had no curiosity, but I didn't want to dismiss the idea that I was witnessing a gorgeous miracle of transformation.

In the weeks (was it really weeks?) that followed, more trees would flower, and green leaf-tips would shed their scales. As I remember it, spring built slowly, beautifully, as flowers and leaves popped out of dormancy. Heaven must be a Kentucky sort of place.

Beijing, also has lovely springs, though they feel much shorter, almost too short. Perhaps the poor air quality adds to what could be this illusion as I rarely venture out of the apartment on the poorest air quality days. Perhaps I am not the most reliable narrator, not willing to describe Beijing at this time of year in the same language as that near mythical place called Kentucky. 

However, I have some photographic evidence.  With RheaAnn and Bill here, we spent Thursday afternoon walking around the same farmland where we were Sunday.  Here's a picture from Sunday.

And one from only four days later



Flowers mostly gone, and green is returning to this mountainside. But four days difference? Best not to blink.