Unwrapping the Unexpected

These are my favorite part of spring. Vibrant pink standing out against dark trunks and branches.

It is hard to believe, but they are even prettier on dreary days. Rain-dampened bark seems black. And the flowers are such a stark contrast to the gloom it's hard not to smile a little when you see them.

Around my part of the city, these beauties are as common as daffodils. They line streets in neighborhoods. Their color is tucked in the woodsy edges of open fields. Their cheer is sprinkled into the perfectly manicured landscapes of bleak office buildings.

I see them every day, and I notice them every day. So I'm not sure why, on this particular day, they managed to awe me as they did. Perhaps it was because, while running endless errands in a spring shower, I turned into shopping center only to find these blooming in row after row after row after row - breathing life into a sea of asphalt and concrete.

It was an unexpected display in an unlikely place. And it was beautiful.

Earth's crammed with heaven, and every common bush afire with God.
~Elizabeth Barrett Browning

Today I'm over at Emily's unwrapping the common and the beautiful. Join me?