Keukenhof Gardens 12 April 2008

The mid-April gardens were in their first glory. The tulip fields were still merely green, for the most part, awaiting the dazzle of colors to come. Yet the gardens carefully calibrated to fire off rows and pools of color regardless of whether there are yet leaves, or the week of springs transit, were a delight. The narcisus blazing in full yellow and white, were reinforced by the blue spears of fragrant hyacinths with crocus in well contoured beds, uniform; bold. They were surrounded by closely trimmed lawns of light green, bordered by darker lawn grass along the smooth and bricked walks.

The trees of the gardens, the unspoken giants, are the gaurdians of their floral glory, particularly the century and half towering beech trees in thick pillars of smooth gray sprayed with bright green moss. They stand ever in companioned rows watching over the strolling visitors as they
first did over us nearly thirty years ago, when they were only 120 years old.

The moody cloud banks of early morning with sudden bursts of wind, by mid-afternoon were replaced by brilliant sunshine from a blue heaven with a cool steady breeze. Only two arms of the garden's windmill were in reefed sail yet they rotated with impressive power in the relentless breeze. Beyond the windmill, and the Norddijk choir singing old favorites like "edelweiss," were less frequented walks, but the most sublime spectacle.

The old thick cherry trees, with dark satin bark trunks and double blossom abundance were in prime beauty. The pillowy blossoms bouncing easily in the sheltered breeze against the bold blue of the treasured rarity of clear sky. Near the old trunks sprang up small beds of delft blue hyacinths and red yellow tulips. After frustrating trains, stations, and standing room only buses, and then a long walk, resting beside these old cherry trees in their crowned glory, at the precise moment of their fullness, was to make a long, irritating journey against your own convenience, and then in a soft moment discovering you had been rewarded far better than if you had planned and executed perfectly. Sometimes undeserved grace is better than perfection.