As my residency years come to a close, Jane and I have been getting back into shape in preparation for the Baltimore Running Festival later this year. We’ve been spending more time out and about the city than in any year prior, and I can say with a fair bit of confidence that there is no lovelier place to be pounding the spring pavement and racking up miles than our home neighborhood in East Baltimore.
Much like the fall, spring here in Maryland is a gradual affair. First, the bleak winds and icy nights of February give way to a mild chill that dissipates by mid-day. In early March, the year’s first colors re-appear where they left off in November - the vicious, crimson hooks of the red maples, which line many streets in Butchers Hill. All through the month, buds begin to appear on branches at eye level, and delicate, pale petals begin to open as the days grow longer and warmer. The hardiest flowers - those of the weeds, shrubs, and perennials that sprout from every untended patch of green space or city sidewalk - are the first to bloom, and they persist throughout the season. Clusters of cerulean-blue speedwells, purple henbits, and pearlescent nettles rise in sprawling carpets across Patterson Park, interrupting many a morning jog - one simply has to stop and stare. Late March and April bring a parade of beautiful flowering trees: first, the deep pink petals of the Okame cherry; next, the generous flowers of the Akebono cherry and the twin magnolias on Pagoda Hill; then, the crisp, classic Yoshino cherry blossoms, accompanied by a flood of white petals on black cherry trees throughout Fells Point; and finally, the laden bouquets of the Kanzan cherry trees, and the conspicuous magenta flowers of the eastern redbuds, whose flaming branches line the avenue outside of our apartment.
As the season progresses and the sunsets fall later and later, the flowers disappear, and the trees begin to leaf out - first the cherries and maples along the city sidewalks, followed by the lindens and great oaks in the park. Before long, the grey skies and bare russet tones of winter are a distant memory. The landscape is lush, the days are long, and another sultry season of life, warmth, and growth is upon us.
