These tulips want some sun and so do I

ellow tulips bloom against a brick foundation in Portland on Monday. Troy R. Bennett | BDN

Yellow tulips bloom against a brick foundation in Portland on Monday. Troy R. Bennett | BDN

It feels like it’s been raining every day since the snow melted in Portland. Truthfully, I’m going a little crazy, waiting for the warm weather to finally kick in. At least the city is awash in tulips. That takes a little of the the sting out of it.

It got bright — not quite sunny — for about an hour this afternoon. I took advantage of the momentary break in precipitation. Grabbing my cameras, I took a stroll through my neighborhood and beyond. The tulips were there to greet me. Thank goodness.

They don’t seem to mind the rain so much. It’s the chill that keeps them closed. Luckily for me and my camera, they’re just as lovely on the outside. They’re easy to find, too. People tend to plant them right out front where they can scream “spring is here” as loud as a plant can yell.

Sylvia Plath wrote:

“Before they came the air was calm enough,
Coming and going, breath by breath, without any fuss.
Then the tulips filled it up like a loud noise.”

The rest of the poem is pretty morose, like most of her beautiful work, but those lines seem as true as anything today. The flowers are chanting at the gloomy sky. They want the sun. They demand it.

So do I.

Tulips bloom all over Portland in on a bright but damp afternoon. (Troy R. Bennett | BDN)

Tulips bloom all over Portland in on a bright but damp afternoon. (Troy R. Bennett | BDN)

Tulips reach for an overcast sky in Portland on a bright but damp afternoon. Troy R. Bennett | BDN

Tulips reach for an overcast sky in Portland on a bright but damp afternoon. Troy R. Bennett | BDN

Troy R. Bennett

About Troy R. Bennett

Troy R. Bennett is a Buxton native and longtime Portland resident whose photojournalism has appeared in media outlets all over the world.