I've never watched the trees leaf out this closely before. Today, it looked like the upper branches of the black cottonwoods were coated in tiny packets of green moss, but it isn’t moss. The branches are 90 feet away so I can't be sure, but I think it’s the tips turning wood into leaves. Into life...
I couldn't reach up and touch the cottonwoods, but I did hook down this big leaf maple branch with my fingers. In six months, this branch will be waving a yellow leaf the size of a dinner plate, surrendering to fall. But today, it is as pink and fresh as skin. I'm going to watch this spring come slowly, up close, as I would look at a lover with the lights on and all the time in the world.