As a teenage fan of Nirvana and of their "In Bloom" song, every year on the 21st March I sing "Spring is here again..." and I smile!
Although summer is my favorite season, I really appreciate these early spring days when everything starts blooming, days are warmer and longer, and there's a fragrant smell in the air. Ahhh, colors, there are plenty of beautiful colors too!!
Here are some recent shots I took of spring colors in the north of Portugal.
Landscapes are covered with yellow, pink, red-pin, purple, blue and white flowers
This is the view at the Nogueira mountain, near Bragança.
I guess this has became my new favorite place in Portugal due to this amazing oak woodland of Quercus pyrenaica...it's huge (at least for my standards).
These trees are also awakening from the winter
However, what really announces that spring is here again....are the tons of different orchid species that are blooming these days. (Ahh, Portugal is mostly a Mediterranic country, so do not expect the numbers found in Tropical regions).
These are some orchids I've seen in the last week:
1. Narrow-leaved Helleborine (Cephalanthera longifolia)
2. Woodcock orchid (Ophrys scolopax)
3. Broad-leafed Helleborine (Epipactis helleborine)
4. Pyramidal orchid (Anacamptis pyramidalis)
5. Giant orchid (Himantoglossum robertianum)
6. Flor-dos-macaquinhos (Orchis italica)
7. Yellow-bee-orchid (Ophrys lutea)
8. Green-winged orchid (Anacamptis morio)
9. Early-purple orchid (Orchis mascula)
Over the years life has been teaching me what matters most is learning to appreciate the beauty around us. This is our greatest escape and richness: being able to find beauty and let ourselves be fascinated.
The above sentence may seem trivial and shamefully stolen from some motivational book. However this is something I have been trying to do since the beginning of my adulthood life, even here on my blog when I started with the "#LoveFriday" tag. The problem is that I easily forget to practice it and let me get stressed and lacking patient. This is certainly 1st world problems and I should definitely not overthink it.
This post is just a gently reminder that is is crucial to take time to look, stop and shot a beautiful photo.