Spring Road Trip Delights

It is good to get away from home. A driving trip to Kansas City, not looked upon as an exciting event, has sights for the eyes to feast upon, if one has eyes to see.

The Kansas countryside displays trees dressed in their spring fancy. There is something so alive in the intense green of early spring leaves, unlike the deeper green that comes in the heat of summer. This bright green is an assault to the senses. I miss the Midwest offerings of spring; it comes so very late in the semi-arid region of Colorado.

In the Midwest each season arrives with intensity.

Spring offers bright green trees, tulips, daffodils, lilacs and fragrances drifting through windows thrown open, driving out the staleness from a house closed up tight against the cold of winter.

Summer is warm sun, beaches, flowers growing everywhere, and fruits and vegetables growing on the vines and stalks. The smell of fresh mown grass, the prickle of the cut grass stuck to your sweat covered skin.

The autumns in the Midwest are a riot of colors on the trees and ground. Maple leaves, as big as plates, the color of the sun, hanging on the branches and littering the ground. The reds, oranges, yellows and browns of the leaves raked in a huge pile ready to experience the giggles of children who leap into the mound with joy. The air has a distinct smell of decaying leaves and plants, but it is a good smell, earthy, a fragrance whispering, “what is happening in this death will be life giving in the spring.”

Winter is harsh, dropping in like a parachute refusing to be rolled up for months. The air so cold it hurts your lungs with each breath, snow piled on top of snow, some beautifully white but most caked with the dirt splashed from passing vehicles.

Intense, full on seasons, no sliding from one season to another, you know when you have entered a new one.

This morning Kansas offered up thunder, lightning and rain, a gift I received with a smile. I love the sound of thunder, a beautiful, rumbling percussion. Each entrance and exit is different, the duration long or short.

God is so gracious, giving us delights for all our senses, imagine the world in black and white with no fragrances or textures. He created us with five senses to experience all of His glorious creation, are we using them or blindly lock stepping through each day unaware of His gift.

Photo:Morguefile