Small Wonder, Great Thanks

Wild Columbine (Aquilegia canadensis)

On this grey morning I crave images which are clear and vibrant and strong. Could there be anything better or more exquisite than the first Columbines of the season? Here in the words of one of the world's great botanical gardens, are "elegant blooms spurred to greatness". The magnificent Columbine is linked by its common and species names to two birds rather than just one: its common name is rooted in the Latin word Columba for dove, and its species name is Aquilegia, from the Latin word for eagle — the names connote gentleness and ferocity at the same time. By any name at all, these flowers with their fine clear colours and their magnificent complex architecture are astonishing beings.

This morning, I peer through my spectacles at these wonders on the computer screen, and I find myself back in the rainy woods, away from the village streets, the exhaust fumes and the rumbling traffic beyond the window. Once again, I am nose to nose with a Columbine blooming on the woodland trail and feeling perfectly contented - this is one of the liminal moments I cannot live without, and I am always thankful for them when they manifest themselves.

Thank you too, for the splendid lunch with a friend at the Green Door yesterday, for last evening's fragrant green tea in a china mug, for honey scented beeswax candles and Shoyeido's plum blossom incense. Thank you for blank journals, creamy handmade paper, bamboo brushes and canvas. Thank you for woodland rambles wet or dry, for the Trillium and Lady's Slipper which bloom in the woods in May. Thank you for many good books waiting to be opened for the first time. Thank you for the garden I am planting this week.

Thank you for these first perfect Columbines of the season.