Chisinau: An Emerald City

I'll admit, the only time Chisinau is beautiful in winter is under a blanket of snow, untouched by the snowplows that clear only the main driving roads. There is something stunning about the city sparkling in the snow. Other than that, Chisinau is dreary and grey.

But when spring makes its arrival, Chisinau transforms into a city of emerald beauty. What was once lifeless looking blooms forth into beautiful shades of green with bursts of color to delight anyone within sights. It is a place that draws everyone into the open.

As I move about the city or stroll through the parks, I can't help but think of my grandfather. He was a quiet, simple man, whose greatest treasure on this earth was his family. He had a love for the earth and a special fondest for trees. With a soft voice he would quote the poem Trees by Joyce Kilmer. As a child he would take me back into his garden and stroll among his rows of vegetables. My favorite gathering would be from the zucchini plants. He would lift up the gigantic prickly leaves, reveal the vegetable, slice it off with his small pocket knife and hand it to me. Even as he aged and had to rely on his family to plant a small garden, he would bend over from his chair, place his massive hands upon the earth and pray over the seeds and for wisdom to care for God's creation.

As I enjoy the beauty of Chisinau in spring, I can't but carry with me the love my grandfather had for the beauty God creates in the emerald colored trees and the burst of new life. 

Trees

Joyce Kilmer

I think that I shall never see

A poem as lovely as a tree.

A tree whose hungry mouth is prest

Against the earth's sweet flowing breast;

A tree that looks at God all day, 

And lifts her leafy arms to pray,

A tree that in summer may wear

A nest of robins in her hair,

Upon whose bosom snow has lain;

Who intimately lives with rain.

Poems are made by fools like me,

But only God can make a tree.