BRILLIANT

It was a dreary, overcast start of the day. I was at the kitchen sink filling the kettle with water when my son Alex came into the room.

“Morning!” he said as he came over and gave me a kiss on the cheek.

“Morning to you, too!” I turned off the water and put the kettle on the stove. “You know, even though it’s overcast today it’s still beautiful out. Don’t you think?”

Alex looked over at me and shrugged his shoulders. “Hey, it’s not Winter anymore. That’s all that matters to me.”

“Exactly!” I pointed out the window. “By the way, have you seen all the bright colors out there?”

Alex looked confused. “What bright colors?”

I went over to the window and pointed to our back yard. “Look at how brilliant the yellow is on the daffodils!” I pointed to our backyard neighbor. “I can’t believe what a bright magenta their azaleas are!” I clapped my hands together and couldn’t help but smile. “I swear, I feel like someone who is color blind and puts those glasses on so they can see color for the very first time!” Even I could hear the excitement in my voice.

Alex had a concerned look on his face as he looked over at the kettle on the stove. “Exactly how many cups of tea have you already had this morning?”

“Oh, come on!” I had to laugh. “It’s been months of looking outside and only seeing different shades of gray! Aren’t you happy to finally be able to see all this color?”

“Clearly not as excited as you.” Alex laughed as he went to the cabinet to get a coffee mug.

I looked back out the window. “I’d forgotten the neighbors over there even had a magnolia tree.”

I looked back at Alex. “It’s such a beautiful shade of pink!”

Alex began making his coffee. “Yup, it’s pink alright.”

“You know,” I turned around and leaned against the counter. “When we had to take down the Japanese maple in the front yard last Fall I was really upset.”

Alex looked over at me, confusion crossing his face again. “Wasn’t it half dead?”

“Yes.” I shrugged my shoulders. “But that’s not the point.”

“It isn’t?”

“Well, yes it is.” I agreed. “But what I meant was I didn’t realize how much I was going to miss that pop of color in the Spring with its crimson leaves.”

“So why don’t you plant another one?”

I looked over at Alex and smiled. “You know that’s really a great idea!” I went into the living room to look out the front window. Alex followed me, taking a sip of his coffee. I looked up and down the street. “But maybe not a Japanese maple this time.”

Alex shook his head and laughed again. “You were just saying how much you miss that tree!”

“I know but everyone has one of those trees on their front lawn.” I pointed out the window as I looked back at Alex. “The developer must have planted them when they first built this development.”

“So what do you want to plant instead?”

“Something that has a brilliant Spring color.” I said as I sat down on the couch and picked up my phone. “Oh, this is going to be the fun part!” I typed in flowering-trees-in-New-Jersey-that-are- deer-resistant. I looked over at Alex and grinned. “I can’t wait to see what I get to choose from!”