Best way to emphasise the greenness of the fields in spring in comparison with summer

The question arises from this sentence in my story, which was originally written in Hebrew and later translated by me to English. In Hebrew I say:

קמתי בבוקר והלכתי למוצב. היה זה יום בהיר של תחילת האביב. כשהלכתי בדרך לעבר המוצב, יצא לי ליהנות מהירוק האביב של השדה, לפני שהקיץ נותן בו את אותותיו.‏

while in English I say:

I woke up in the morning, and went to the post. It was a bright day at the beginning of spring. When I walked down the road that leads to the post, I enjoyed the lively green of the field, before the summer manifests itself.

Now, what I mean to say is that the field is green and lively during springtime but after Summer it will turn less lively and green (or as we say in Hebrew "נתן בו את אותותיו", which roughly translated means "unleashed its signs/marks/influences on it".

What's the best way to say it in English? Furthermore, which tense should I use, given that the story is supposedly written in springtime, before summer takes place? The people on ##English on Freenode had a hard time with it. (And as someone there joked, I'd better find a good way to phrase it in English, before I miss the Israeli spring again.)

posted about 11 years ago

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shlomif‭

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