Moss thickened every bough and the wood of the limbs looked rotten but the trees were wild with blossom and a green fire of small new leaves flickered even on the deadest branches.

~ Excerpt from “The Apple Trees at Olema,” by Robert Hass

A dreamy spring day in the woods, thick with blossoms, the violets, purple and white, the anemones, the bouquets of maple wings. I am not sure how far I’ll go, but I keep going to the swamp, after almost turning back, and there, overhanging the trail by the side of the clouded swamp, is the blooming crabapple, arresting me. It’s such a pink atmosphere in the woods today. What is more cheerful and splendid than a spontaneous and old crab apple, rooted here in the swamp? I have some anxieties today, floating ones, I know why they are here. Breathing is always a good idea, deeply. All will be well. I go to my Thursday morning poetry workshop where the poems shared by others are beautifully crafted. I get very helpful feedback and encouragement for my poem. All that work on it yesterday, and yet, so much more to do, but this poem is worth working on, and I will stay with it and trust the process. It began to rain. I prepared a prompt for my Aim for Astonishing workshop tonight. I felt it was a good prompt. One hopes, one never knows for sure. I went to a tech rehearsal online with Mass. Poetry because I’m presenting next week some workshops for Student Day of Poetry––virtual ones, for high schoolers. I have done this, in person, many times previously. I will present photo inspired writing. Well, I had just commented on a Facebook post a writer friend had shared, Naomi Shihab Nye’s poem, “Kindness,” and I said in my comment how much I admire Naomi and this poem. Well, I sign into the tech rehearsal, and whose kind and gorgeous face is shining in the Zoom gallery? Naomi’s! What. delight to say hello to her. She is doing a reading for SDOP so she was there. Tonight the prompt I shared in my webinar worked wonderfully. A super satisfying webinar. A wild apple blossom feeling all this day.