The sweetness of a soft spring...

…there has been a softness to spring this year along the Little Miami River in the form of shadows, raindrops and diffused light. Spring has trod lightly, sympathetic and undemanding of the sun and its meager attempts to break through heavy dark clouds. Cloaked in mist and raindrops, Spring’s sweetness has flowed in blooms glowing in the half-light, delivering a saturated color achievable only without the glare of a strengthening sun…

Wild geraniums (Geranium maculatum) bloom in the hollows of a rain-soaked hillside along the Little Miami River.

Ten anthers dotted with bright yellow pollen...

...sleepy, droopy Wild Geranium buds waiting to be coaxed awake.

...a Geranium maculatum blossom shows as soft and misty as the overcast day.

...the saturated color of an unfurled blossom is hard to pass by.

With nonstop chatter and buzzing, Blue-gray Gnatcatchers are one of the first spring migrants to arrive on the scene along the Little Miami River, blending into the remnants of winter with their blue-gray feathers and tiny, round bodies, but by mid May they can sometimes seem out of style. Their soft blue-gray color is easily overshadowed by the riot of spring as we search out the reds, oranges, yellows and vibrant blues of later-arriving neotropicals, but this spring…the gnatcatchers continue to hold their own…sweet and soft in the continuous gloom…

...a male Blue-gray Gnatcatcher perches lightly surrounded by the lush green of spring.

...a month or so earlier he was still surrounded by winter's gray...

...standing bright in the gloom of a rainy afternoon...

Polioptila caerulea commands a soft spring along the Little Miami...

…and although there’s a soft, lovely romance in a rainy spring…and walking the woods while tiny raindrops drum out an old, soothing rhythm on the umbrella is nice, I’m still ready for some SUN!!

p.s. Rick just read this post and said I'm trying to sugarcoat the sogginess of the situation...(and he might be right! It's raining and 49 degrees...where's the sun?).