spring budding

The temperature exceeded sixty degrees here yesterday. The pussywillow bush several days ago was budding full and furry. Today it is morphing into soft green leaves. From the kitchen window the bush looks tall and full against the wide spring sky. It is a sentinel of this season and the next.

Close up, touching the soft velvety catkins, the new growth of spring is the essence of renewal. But one thing is missing. The bees are missing. Every other year the bees would be busily visiting the bush, hovering and working. But not this year; not one single bee came to dance with the pussywillow.

I feel a sadness with their absence and also concern that every season we may have one less garden visitor. Will the hummingbirds come? Will the butterflies grace their special bush? What about the dragonflies...lightening bugs...goldfinches?

The silence of the absence of the bees carries a lot of questions. Who has the answers?

i don't know, i just don't know anything anymore