What would it be like? Annette Olivia Brown, author

Reflection written, as a representative of the community, for Volunteers for Springfield Park Inc.  -   3rd Annual Luncheon & Community Service Awards Ceremony Journal, May 11th 2024.

Springfield Gardens Park, N.Y. May 2024. aobcreations photograph.

Winter entered with a slow gait and then shifted into a sprint.  Summer bowed out and we lost it’s fiery presence and energizing spirit.  Tree limbs became stark and the leaves, like colorful flames, fell never to rise again for the season.
 
The wind blew, the rain poured, the snow fell, the sun shone and the views of the horizon changed.  But what if there were no buds or flowers and the grass remained brown and gray, devoid of bright and inviting colors?  What if the soil continued to be stagnant, hard and unforgiving of the cold hard assault of frost and the persistent pelting of snow and ice?
 
What would it be like, if spring never sprung and kicked out it’s hooves as it pressed out the shoots from seeds filled with the promise of living, moving “forms of life”?  What if daffodils, like silent yellow trumpets, never press out before the “tulip rainbow” of glorious floral?
 
As winter retreats, the ice cracks and melts on the lake’s surface and  feathered creatures begin to dip and soar as their trained eyes skim the surface of the lake searching for their food.  Unassuming fish snap at bait sent, like arrows, targeting their schools. Hunters in the air and on the ground wait patiently for the triumphant moment of “the catch!”
 
Every season is posthumously honored as a predecessor to the new season.  Like a well rehearsed orchestra the illustrious melodies of each season are played on a center stage for all to see.  No tickets are required, just a “hushed respect” for the time and space needed for each performance.
 
Springfield Gardens Park provides this type of stage.  The conductors or gardeners are ready to guide and prepare different versions of the melody, however, the notes are faithfully performed and executed by each species.  Visitors to the park can expect a prepared stage and predictable acts, like a new melody, for each season of the year.  Very often the exquisite, graceful beauty, of wading birds are seen.  Annual highlights are provided, such as, unique designs formed by lulled snow. Ice crystals form and cover the foliage like carpet and the tree tops like icing on a cake. 
 
What would it be like without the haven of a park, like Springfield Park, built and ready for visitors to come and experience?  In the park the motion of life is captured through seasonal changes, the ebb and flow of the lake and the proximity of specific wildlife in all of their splendor.
 
What would it be like if there were no parks? The community has the opportunity to pour into to a resource that has the potential to reciprocate and supply what only nature can. Parks and gardens are a natural, beneficial, resources for humankind, but only if we respect and cherish them, and agree, there can never be a time without them.
 
 
 
​© 2018-2024  Annette O. Brown Creations, Media. All rights reserved. Written permission must be secured by the author
 
Annette Olivia Brown, Author 
Books:
Encounters and Reflections II - It is Written. Publisher: Trilogy Books, 2023
Encounters and Reflections - Can you hear me now? Publisher:  AOB Creations, 2019