Saturday April 10 2021
Our home is one of those hybrid situations where we sit on an acre of property across from a large plat development. Country living with city conveniences, I think was what the realtor said to us. Our house is a tiny, but charming, cape cod style that was built in 1949 as one of the first homes on our side of the street. The original owners, or those not long after, planted trees along the property lines. When we moved in several years ago, we had the viewing pleasure of maples, oaks, sycamores, and a gorgeous white ash.
Many of these are sadly gone now, having completed their deciduous lives and I grieve the loss of all of them. Except that stupid honey locust that littered its huge seed pods all over the yard. Nasty thing.
One tree that I really enjoyed was a white pine that had been planted next to the driveway. Taller than our story & half house, it invited woodpeckers and nuthatches to feed on the insects harboring inside its bark. Which, I suspect was what led to its demise – those woodboring insects.
After considering how to replace such a majestic thing, we settled on some variety of a weeping flowery tree. Grafted to not get taller, we love to see its umbrella of branches widen with each season. And each April, its canopy is covered with lovely white flowers.
For about three days. Then poof. The blooms are gone. Well, not gone, really. They’re all over the driveway like some kind of sad glitter.
Anyway, within the confines of those three short blooming days, I get the dogs out for a photo shoot among the flowery goodness. It’s an annual goal.
And here is a sample of photos from the past few years. Clockwise starting at the top left: Canine Companions Puppy Neptune taken this year, our Holly Berry in 2015, Canine Companions Puppy Vitani in 2018, Canine Companions Puppy Maren in 2017, and the mighty Micron in 2018.
Donnatopia 