Dreamy Oxford Spring

 

The fairest of all rivers sent a voice
That flowed along my dreams.

(William Wordsworth)

I am not sure I could imagine a more lovely example of English Spring than here in Oxford. Between the Oxford Botanic Garden and Addison's Walk in Magdalen College, the dreams of Spring are on display. Held in tension with the finiteness of their being - knowing that in a few weeks' time it will all look different.  Doesn't that make it even more beautiful? The temporary nature of nature invokes a sense of longing to be present to enjoy the present that the season provides. It's a feast for the eyes. Spring is the star of the show.

On the grounds of Magdalen College is a path that loops around the water meadow (about a mile around), with the option to veer off (over a bridge) into the Fellow's Garden. Inside the Fellow's Garden was the greatest expanse of daffodils and the Oxfordshire flower, the elusive Snakesheads Fritillary. Finding these blooms (purple heads dropping decorated with checkerboard print) is like finding the pot of gold at the end of a rainbow. But we saw large patches of them blanketing themselves along the River Cherwell. How delightful that was. I did not expect there to be so many of these wild blooms.

Whilst walking, I imagined C.S. Lewis exiting his rooms from the New Building, tramping along the paths of this walk on a quick jaunt around the water meadow in the Springtime, noticing the birds singing with eager hearts - was it in the early spring days walking these paths that he composed his poem "What the bird said early in the year"? When the days were still cold with icy winds coming across the city? 

I look across the water meadow back toward Magdalen Tower from the far side of Addison's Walk with dreamy notions, fusing the past into the present. For a short time I share this space, these paths, these trees with the past, and feel the gifts of the present. I feel privileged to be standing there. To breathe it all in. I don't want it to end.

Across the street from Magdalen is the Botanic Garden (oldest botanic garden in the UK, established 1621), a lovely place to walk around and enjoy the huge variety of plants, trees, blooms, and glass houses (filled with all kinds of warm weather forest, desert, and lush landscapes). It's nature-lovers' paradise, this area of Oxford, tucked away from the busy-ness of High Street, these locations hold some dear spots in my heart. My very first visit to Oxford with my brother included a walk around Addison's Walk and a wander around Magdalen, and included tea and scones from the kitchen eaten outside at the tables by the river (near the loading area of the punts, which can be an entertaining view point). And coming back again and again, Oxford doesn't change in that light. It holds all these charms as it did fourteen years ago. That's part of what I love about jolly old Oxford.