The blossoms came and they brought you…

The blossoms came and they brought you…

I had a bit of a ‘D’oh’, Homer Simpson, moment the other day when wondering why cherry blossom and apple blossom appears at different times in the spring – cherry blossom much earlier than apple. Of course fruit like cherries, strawberries, raspberries and others are summer fruits, right?, whereas apples are for the autumn and therefore the flowers appear later…like I say ‘D’oh’.

I’m no botanist but that makes sense to me, and it’s nice of course that we get to experience a range of  blossoms appearing over the Spring months - extending the period where these types of trees provide a wonderful background of colour. I enjoy the changing seasons very much – a very nice thing about living in Scotland is that the seasons bring a variety of looks to our landscape. I do a fair bit of running & walking and while I try to mix up my routes, travelling the same pathway throughout the year guarantees that you’ll notice differences made apparent by the seasons. Repeating the same route doesn’t need to be boring – in fact I would argue that the repetition brings a sense of being more alert to the nuances of the space that you’re travelling through – if you’re open to it.

Heading into Easter we’re seeing some great sunsets as the nights get longer. The light has returned and we seem to have a little more time to do things, get outside and enjoy nature. My advice? Soak it up. Don’t miss the chance to enjoy what’s right in front of you. As Burns wrote in Tam O’Shanter:

“But pleasures are like poppies spread

You seize the flower, its bloom is shed.”

Life’s pleasures might be fleeting, but they also return—like the blossoms, like the seasons—if we stay open and keep looking.

COMMUNITY MENTAL HEALTH & WELLBEING

Engage Renfrewshire are delighted to announce that the below groups/projects have been successful in applying for funding from the Community Mental Health and Wellbeing Fund for 2024/2025. A cross-sector panel decided funding allocations and all funds are now distributed. The funding period will run for a maximum of 11 months. This year we received more applications than ever before, with a total request amount of over £1.1 million. Our thanks to our panel and all those who applied this year.

https://engagerenfrewshire.org/couch/uploads/file/year-4-funded-projects.pdf

Here’s hoping everyone has a nice Easter break.

All the best

Alan