black lace

Every year I can count on my mom telling me how much she LOVES this time of the year, when the trees are just budding and how when the sun is setting, the trees turn black and lacy. Right now, Nebraska at dusk is covered in black lace and it is gorgeous. I took this picture on Friday night driving to camp for our summer leadership retreat and felt so excited that spring is here and summer is coming.

Then, when I drove back to camp on Saturday morning, I had to stop at the exact same tree, that had magically blossomed overnight. Spring is definitely here.

On a related note (well, just related to spring and newness of life...), I almost hit a mama robin this morning. She saw my car and went to fly away, but her belly was so huge, she could hardly lift off. And it made me pause, because I've got some bigger days to come, and this mama robin's inability to move this morning was a sobering sight. I silently hoped that she might just fly right to her nest and lay those eggs and feel better real soon.