Trees and Flowers

Last Saturday Alyson and I went down into the yard to check out the tree carnage. For those who are interested there it is in all it’s gory. I have to point out one astounding thing. We were so lucky the tree fell across the back yard. It missed any structure and only caused damage to one or two other trees. If it had fallen backwards it would surely have gone into the neighbor’s yard and possibly their house. Now the Pine tree is huge. I haven’t measured it, but it must be a good 3ft in diameter at the base. Right next to it is an Oak tree that is maybe 6” in diameter. If you look carefully at the picture you’ll see that the Pine actually started to fall one direction, but was then re-directed by the oak. That tiny little oak trunk was strong enough to redirect the tree ~30°, which was just enough so that it missed everything. If not for that tiny little oak…. Perish the thought.


Now I know this might seem hard to believe after that, but there are a lot of upsides to the extended rainy season this year. Not the least of which is a veritable bumper crop of flowers springing up everywhere. Alyson and I took a walk on Sunday and I brought my camera to catch some of the wonderful flowers blooming all over. It turned into a leisiurly stroll, however, because I had to stop every 2 minutes to take a picture of yet another crazy flower or blooming tree or wild blossoms, etc. I only regret we didn’t come across one of those insane poppy patches that have bee cropping up. Mostly I’ve noticed them in traffic dividers, a little traffic island transformed into a bright orange triangle. When I get a good pic I’ll post it. For now I have a library of 84 (gulp) pictures. I understand if that’s too many for a quick look on the internet, but there they are anyway.

Are there really more flowers this Spring? Is it just sensory deprivation? I don’t care if the change was in the foliage or in me, walking amongst it has been awesome.

-E

Tree Pics
Flower Pics