Spring Beauty

One April evening found me exhausted and homeward bound from wetland fieldwork in northern Wisconsin. The stormy morning clouds dissipated by a front, left a hard gray clearness in the eastern sky. The sunset blazed orange through the passenger side window. The straight two-lane highway lulled my thoughts.

Woodlots broke the expanse of brown fields in the distance. Each tree, leaves freshly bursting from long-dormant branches, added its unique color to the palette on my left. Red maples popped intense shades of dark ochre amongst the white-trunked aspens, chartreuse leaves brilliant against the steel sky. What a multihued gift for the drive home.