{"id":85,"date":"2011-05-19T13:00:40","date_gmt":"2011-05-19T18:00:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.mindfulwalker.com\/?p=85"},"modified":"2011-09-16T17:07:58","modified_gmt":"2011-09-16T22:07:58","slug":"the-glorious-palette-of-spring-green","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mindfulwalker.com\/wordpress\/beyond-gotham\/the-glorious-palette-of-spring-green","title":{"rendered":"The Glorious Palette of Spring Green"},"content":{"rendered":"

The verb \u201cspring\u201d originates from the Old English \u201cspringan<\/em>,\u201d which means to burst forth or leap. The noun for the season, fittingly, derives from that term. Each year at this time, spring enchants us with the bursting forth of blossoms and flowers \u2013 pinks, purples, whites, yellows, reds \u2013 from what which lay dormant in the preceding months of cold and longer darkness. Spring affirms life\u2019s renewal, in all of its range of colors. Yet for sheer exuberance, is there anything more wondrous and uplifting than spring\u2019s greens?<\/p>\n

\u201cSpring green\u201d is actually a palette of many shades, thanks to nature\u2019s process of mixing. The green of leaves and plants happens because of chlorophyll<\/a>. This chemical compound is key to photosynthesis, the process that enables plants to combine the sun\u2019s energy with water and carbon dioxide and convert them into carbohydrates as food and oxygen as the waste product. In the process, chlorophyll absorbs other wavelengths of light, such as red and blue, leaving green, which is not absorbed and is reflected to our eyes. Other pigments in the leaves \u2013 which photosynthesis uses but in smaller quantities \u2013 combine with green to create the different shades we see.<\/p>\n

Perhaps when our beings long most for brighter color after a long winter, nature\u2019s reward is most vibrant and enticing. Somehow by summer our eyes become quite accustomed to a green world, and we may take it for granted. As author and naturalist Hal Borland<\/a> wrote, \u201cThe big leaf of any tree is so familiar that the wonder of it is lost. See it young, and that wonder is new again.\u201d Watch a tiny leaf burst from a bud and touch it gently, and you notice its vivid green and its tender softness. Carved and curving leaves look and feel like the baby\u2019s fingers of the plant world in detail and delicacy.<\/p>\n

\"Green-Yellow<\/a><\/p>\n

Look close-up in April and May at brand-new and young leaves or stand back and gaze at a hillside or field border full of trees newly clothed, and a cavalcade of varied greens shows itself. \u201cSpring green\u201d in nature\u2019s palette has many shades: lime green, yellow-green, green-yellow, mint green, electric green, grayish green, sage green, moss green, etc., complemented by the darker greens of the evergreen trees, with their own lighter shoots of new growth.<\/p>\n

Many feel special delight at autumn\u2019s range of colors, yet one panel of trees in spring possesses its own amazing richness and variation. On a spring day, I once counted 14 different shades of green on a hilly shoreline flanking the Ashokan Reservoir. Those who create colors in the human world, such as the Crayola crayon makers<\/a>, take important cues from nature\u2019s diversity.<\/p>\n

The greens of spring have much not only to show but to teach us. It\u2019s an invitation to open our senses and see the array laid out before us in its subtlety and complexity. Borland was right when he noted that we often take the beauty of leaves for granted, given the bright colors of spring\u2019s flowers and blossoms. And yet there they are, laid out in green finery, supple and strong, popping out of those tiny buds that withstood the winter cold.<\/p>\n

Whether we see the beauty in the exquisite leaves or the fine blades of grass underfoot, we sense it is patience rewarded, fully alive green, evident and lush in sunshine or rain. Spring green is the answer to our \u201cwhere-have-you-been?\u201d longings, reaffirming the miracle and wonder of life\u2019s continuity, season after season, year after year.<\/p>\n

Below is an exploration of spring green.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n

\"Leaves<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Bright<\/a><\/p>\n

Bright yellow-green<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Variation<\/a><\/p>\n

Variation on a hillside, in Rockland County, N.Y.
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Variation<\/a><\/p>\n

Variation on a shoreline, at the Ashokan Reservoir<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Contrast<\/a><\/p>\n

The contrast of greens<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Leaves<\/a><\/p>\n

\"The<\/a><\/p>\n

The sun lights the leaves at Hanover Square in New York<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Bright<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Young<\/a><\/p>\n

Bright yellow-green against a backdrop of green grass<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/object><\/p>\n

View the slide show<\/a> larger in Flickr.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The verb \u201cspring\u201d originates from the Old English \u201cspringan,\u201d which means to burst forth or leap. The noun for the season, fittingly, derives from that term. Each year at this time, spring enchants us with the bursting forth of blossoms and flowers \u2013 pinks, purples, whites, yellows, reds \u2013 from what which lay dormant in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[5],"tags":[50,15,33],"class_list":["post-85","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-beyond-gotham","tag-meditations","tag-nature","tag-seasons"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2PDqY-1n","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mindfulwalker.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mindfulwalker.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mindfulwalker.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mindfulwalker.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mindfulwalker.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=85"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.mindfulwalker.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":204,"href":"https:\/\/www.mindfulwalker.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85\/revisions\/204"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mindfulwalker.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=85"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mindfulwalker.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=85"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mindfulwalker.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=85"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}