March 2026
How Happy the Trees Must Be
Listen to the audio version by Dorothy
Welcome to March, when we step into the anticipation of spring, which I think of as a season of hope and possibility. The idea for this present Moment is from a paragraph in the 2014 annual of The Friendship Book, at March 1. The first of these annuals was created in 1939 in the United Kingdom with a poem or reflective thought for each day, and have continued in this format to the present (available on Amazon). They were first written by Francis Gay, under the pseudonym of Yorkshire writer, Herbert Leslie Gee (1901 - 1977).
The author suggested that the coming of spring is surely the world's best tonic for raising our spirits, and quoted words by the late nineteenth-century English nature writer, Richard Jefferies, who took the idea a step further with his words: How happy the trees must be, to hear the song of the birds again in their branches! After the silence and leaflessness, to have the birds back once more and to feel them busy at nest-building; how glad to give them the moss and the fibres and the crutch of the boughs to build in.
Spring is a time of renewal when trees are birthing new leaves, blossoms appear, and next week, in most locations on March 8, Daylight Savings Time returns, when gradually the evenings will have more daylight, and the birds will start singing earlier in the morning as they anticipate the dawn. My Stepping Stones booklet (available on Innisfree's website), introduces the section on Faith with words by poet, Rabindranath Tagore, awarded the Nobel Prize for literature in 1913. Faith is the bird that feels the light and sings while the dawn is still dark. Since I first discovered those words - don't remember when - it has been an added joy to awake and hear their singing. As you too hear them, may they give you a morning smile that warms your heart and stays with you during your day.
Perhaps, in the days ahead, reflect on what spring symbolizes for you. Do you consider it a time of hope, renewal, or new beginnings? When I suddenly lost my sister, Barbara, at the beginning of April some years ago, bereft and sad as I was, I was grateful that it was springtime, and that the trees outside my window at my apartment complex had come into bloom, a reminder that life continues. Today I have a small flower pot on my balcony that didn't appear to contain any life, when suddenly five small shoots appeared, grew, and yesterday a miniature daffodil bloomed. I anticipate its four companions will follow suit.
So, until we meet again, please give yourself a spring tonic, and when you are out and about in the days ahead, notice the majesty of nature in the colours of the flowers, see the life emerging around the base of the trees, listen to the singing of the birds, and ponder how happy the trees must be. We live in the midst of an amazing broadcasting system of hope, and a reminder of the awe and wonder of nature.
I wish you the joys of spring, and that you may be as happy as the trees.
Take good care of yourself. Blessèd be to you.
Dorothy B.
An Innisfree Moment 2026 | 2019-2025 Archive | Newsletter Sign-Up
Rev. Dorothy Blandford, Ph.D
Apt. 202 - 1655 Martin Drive
Surrey, BC, V4A 6E1, Canada
604-535-9016
info@innisfreespirit.com