Springtime - the green season. At last, life and livelihood bursts from the field and trees. The wheat that was planted in October seizes on the first spring showers and warming sunshine to patchwork the countryside with rich green shoots. The trees glow with the pristine white blossoms of almonds and then mountain plums. Barley and sunflowers still lie below the red-brown of tilled fields, ringed with wild flowers. Above is the luminous acrylic blue of a cloudless Castillian sky and in the frosty night, the brilliance of the stars dazzling down through crystal air.