Not All Greens Are Created Equal...

Yesterday, as our Mother's Day dinner cooked on the grill, I looked directly east, up at the mountain. This is the view I see as I leave the house every day. It's a view I've seen since my family bought a cherry and apricot orchard back in 1969.

I love this view.

Of course, there are times during the year when the view is prettier than others. Spring (now...) is great, so is autumn. I think winter's my favorite with everything covered in snow. But as I gazed upward yesterday, I took a couple of pictures because rarely is it this green.

Of course, something being green is relative. My friends Clif and Jenn live in Washington State. I visited them in 2006--my one and only time in the Northwest--and I was blown away. I'd been told they have a lot of trees in the Seattle area, but even knowing this, I could not have imagined how incredibly green it is. They carve canyons through the trees where they put roads, like driving through a carpet of vegetation. It was, in a word, beautiful.

I live in Utah, not Washington State. I used to think we had trees where I live, and we do, but nothing compared to where my friends live.

But even Washington State might come in second when it comes to being green like some places in Europe, specifically Denmark. I lived there for a couple of years back in the 1980s, and I saw shades and colors of green I've never seen anywhere else. Some were so bright, they were almost neon. Denmark doesn't have the trees like the Pacific Northwest, but the climate allows so many amazing plants to grow. Seeing Denmark in the spring is simply amazing, pure and simple.

In a few weeks the greens above us on the mountain will fade and turn tan and most of the vibrant green with disappear until next year. Since we technically live in a desert, that's the way it is and we who live here accept it. I suppose if I had to be surrounded by green, I'd have to move.

Once the harsh heat of summer subsides, the leaves will turn, and the mountain will be covered with reds and oranges. Seeing those colors--for me--is like an award for surviving the--for me--extreme heat of summers we endure.

Then comes the snow, and the mountains are reborn in white, my favorite thing.

For now, however, I'll enjoy the green, for a few weeks, anyway.