The vernal equinox, the time on the earth when the day and night are nearly equal, happened today at 5:45 p.m. CDT.
A moment after that I captured
this Martha Gonzales rose
drinking in the rays of the sun.

This photo opens my new series of images
entitled "Sweet Spring" which will
continue through the first day of summer.
The series name is taken from the poem
entitled "Vertue" by George Herbert (1633).
In the poem, Herbert rejoices in the beauty of
our world, and yet at the same time, he
reflects soberly that this world
will not last forever...
He finds his hope in virtue.

Vertue
by George Herbert

Sweet day, so cool, so calm, so bright,
The bridall of the earth and skie:
The dew shall weep thy fall to night;
For thou must die.

Sweet rose, whose hue angrie and brave
Bids the rash gazer wipe his eye:
Thy root is ever in its grave
And thou must die.

Sweet spring, full of sweet dayes and roses,
A box where sweets compacted lie;
My musick shows ye have your closes,
And all must die.

Onely a sweet and vertuous soul,
Like season’d timber, never gives;
But though the whole world turn to coal,
Then chiefly lives.

Sweet Spring: Day 1
March 20, 2015