The Perfumed Woodland

Exquisite fragrances, borne on
a beneficent breeze this sunny
humid spring day permeate the
atmosphere. Wild apple trees
in exuberant, breathtaking bloom.
Bees and hover flies along with
a myriad of insects flutter and fly
amongst the petals in a state of
sweetly blissful intoxication.

The richly composted aura of the
forest floor rejuvenated and hastened
by this morning's thunder storm which
also varnished the arras with a bright
brush of colour, rendering too an
added perfume of humus, aiding
the wealth of understory vegetation
anxious for their seasonal glory.

We see dog-toothed violets, red
baneberry, Solomon's seal, trilliums,
lilies-of-the-valley, wood violets,
Jack-in-the-pulpits, foamflower.
Among them, cherry trees in bloom
and honeysuckle too; a profuse
richness of colour, form and scent
to overwhelm the senses with
the sublimity of spring perfection.

There are others succumbing to the
ethereal beauty surrounding us.
Chickadees filtering through branches;
and nuthatches. A Phoebe, high on a
limb, calling, calling. Nearby, a lively
grey squirrel triumphantly possessing
a peanut within a daily cache, whose
irresistible scent has whetted its appetite.