neighborhood wood

every spring without fail i miss the moment when the blossoms burst and the leaves unfurl. as if by magic, one day they aren't there and the next they are. it feels instantaneous but since nature has a way of doing things diliberately and gradually, i'm sure i've just been remiss in my attentions!

this year i vowed to diligently notice the process and hoped to track the neighborhood trees by taking photos of the various stages they go through. of course i failed miserably and snapped photos only twice-a month apart. but it is still pretty intriguing to see the difference 4 weeks can make in the life of a tree. the first photos are from march 20 and the second group from april 23. in this time span, the aspens went from fuzzy pussy willows to funny, fluffy, hang down caterpillar mess, to full blown leaves. our beautiful maple in the front yard went from having withered ends to having tiny red tipped buds on each and every twig and then shocked me with star busts of chartreuse flowers (who knew maples had flowers?!) that now have itsy bitsy maple shaped leaves at their base. they look absolutely luscious. i noticed back in march that the birds had been eating every last winter-withered crab apple from our neighbors' yard and the fact that they did it with such a manical devotion made me think they felt the urge to do a spring cleaning of their own....clearing the tree out of the old so that the new little yummies can come in. and come in they will, the hot pink blossoms that will lead to those future crab apples currently cover every square inch of limb and branch. it is breathtaking.

when my grandmother came over the other day she saw the blossoms on our peach tree and told me that she once got out on a ladder and tickled every blossom on her apricot tree with a paintbrush to help pollinate it and therefore bear more fruit for her to harvest. i loved this story and this visual of my youthful grandmother playing the part of mother nature in the spring play.

i may change my tune come september, but it is hard to imagine how any season could put on a better, more eventful show than spring. ah spring, you really are magic.

(Photos from top to bottom: March Aspen, April Peach Tree Blossoms, March Peach Tree Buds, April Maple Flowers and Leaves, March Maple twigs.)