We returned to White-Hall Park on Tuesday, this time to take the lower trails around the pond and to get a closer look at the blossoming red maples. Hopefully these pictures captured some of the magic of springtime!
Let us live for each other and for happiness; let us seek peace in our dear home, near the inland murmur of streams, and the gracious waving of trees, the beauteous vesture of earth, and sublime pageantry of the skies.
~ Mary Shelley
(The Last Man)
Newsflash: Some of you may remember me writing about Buddy, the 1,000 lb. beefalo who escaped slaughter in August and was still on the loose in Connecticut in September. Well, he managed to evade capture all winter long but was finally taken into custody last night! I assume he is on his way to the sanctuary in Florida… Story at the end of this post: in the woods again.
Not much else to report, except that we are having a winter-like nor’easter for weather today. Nice to be tucked inside, daydreaming about this enchanting walk…
Great post. Loved all the touches of Spring in your area. Hope Spring brings you joy with no more storms moving your way.
Thank you, Peggy. It’s been raw, wet and windy yesterday and today but things are looking up for the weekend. 🙂 The advance of spring will resume. 🙂
Enchanting was a word that came to me too.Those pale violets and greys – and the red flowers! I think you may be one more before Norway in Springing. The leaves have not sprung yet here
I think we are farther south here than Norway is. When we went to Norway in May we got caught in a snowstorm and didn’t see any spring blossoms! It was still breathtakingly beautiful, though.
Cheers to the springing of spring. There’s something about a budding tree that I really like. Maybe because it’s a positive sign of a positive tomorrow. Thanks for the walk, Barbara. Hope all is well.
You’re so welcome, Frank. It’s all about new beginnings, and rebirth. The dawn of a new spin around the sun. 🙂 It seems to me the new year should be marked from March 1st rather than January 1st. Budding trees are enchanting to me.
Buddy is an inspiration to us all. To go your own way, to not allow yourself to be consumed by the machine, to wander freely in the forest– and then end up in a cushy retirement home. Thanks for the update about his fate.
You summed the story of Buddy up perfectly, Ally! I had to laugh, what tripped him up at the end was lust. He was very interested in some pretty cows at a particular farm, got into their pen and couldn’t find his way out…
Love tracking the signs of spring!
Me, too! 🙂
My red maple looks like this, too, right before its leaves pop out. I imagine that’s why it’s named “red maple,” right?!! Here’s to Spring!
Yes, three cheers for Spring! Pretty red blossoms in the spring and gorgeous red leaves in the fall, red maples are aptly named. 🙂
It is such a treat to see color when the landscape is still drab Barbara. The red maples are little pops of color, as are the tiny green buds lined along the branches. Today those buds are likely covered in snow – hopefully it does not harm them. I have a Red Laceleaf Japanese Maple in my front garden and one year we had a warm spell in Spring. The leaves unfurled, then we had a very cold spell. The leaves got freezer burn and turned brown. Every home on my walking route that had a tree like this had the same freezer burn. Our trees looked bad the rest of the season, but were fine the next Spring. Hope you get out again to enjoy early Spring.
Seen from a distance last week the red was so faint that I had to return this week and get closer. We didn’t get snow here on the shoreline but just a little inland my sister got 4 inches of the white stuff! I googled Red Laceleaf Japanese Maple — very pretty. People around here have various kinds of ornamental Japanese maples in their gardens, too, but the native red maples in the woods grow to 60 feet high with a 40 foot spread. Way too big for our little gardens! That’s too bad that your maple got burned that year — I hope it will be a good year for it this time around. 🙂
Years ago when I planted my Red Laceleaf Japanese Maple, they only had them at nurseries and are a miniature spreading tree which you use as a focal point of the garden. Now I see them everywhere, but then not so much. We had gone to a nursery and they recommended it. I tore out the back, side and front gardens the Summer of 1985 – worked really hard, lugging things home … it took an entire Summer, but was satisfying. The front garden was puny looking for about five years, but is filled in nicely, just bushes and the tree. I like the flowering trees, but don’t have anywhere to put such a showpiece tree and they flower such a short amount of time. Glad you didn’t get a ton of snow – we have some snow coming this Tuesday and I hope it is after I am home after my last COVID shot!
I’m looking forward to our yearly trip to the nursery this year now that we’re vaccinated. Memorial Day weekend is when we usually buy new mulch for the garden and a big potted geranium for the balcony. Last year we were too afraid to interact with anyone to load any bags of mulch into the car so we skipped it and the garden is looking a little threadbare now. (We only grabbed a geranium and paid the outdoor cashier and told her to keep the change and got into the car and used our hand sanitizer like it was going out of style…) I’m looking forward to wandering around the outside part of the nursery this year and looking at all the plants and bushes and ornamental trees… Congratulations when you get your second shot on Tuesday — may the weather hold!
I know exactly how you feel Barbara. I still am leery to interact with people as Michigan is so bad right now. I bit the bullet and did not cancel my dental cleaning for tomorrow morning, though I’ve stewed and fretted over it for weeks (if not months). I used to always go to the nursery the weekend before Mother’s Day to get the annual haul of plants when I still had the garden out back (before the Polar Vortex took out 3/4s of it). It was something I looked forward to as well. Last year I ordered the mulch through a landscaping company as the mulch really needed replenishing and it would have meant multiple trips. I thought I’d never get done opening the 36 bags and spreading the mulch, but I was happy with the result. As to Tuesday, at first, we were getting rain Tuesday afternoon – I thought “whew, no worries about getting my shot” but now the rain has morphed from rain, into a slushy coating and now this morning I heard it is a big snow event happening Tuesday evening into Wednesday … one station says 2-4 inches of snow and the other says 3-6 inches of snow. That’s a little crazy … it’s also too bad as the ornamental trees and bushes, plus a lot of Spring flowers are going to be crushed by the snowfall. I went to the Botanical Gardens this morning as they had planted all their Spring flowers into pots. These were cold-weather pansies, some tulips, daffodils and petunias. They’ll put the other annuals in those pots when it gets warmer. It was a nice day, despite being about 40 when I left and it started raining halfway to the Gardens when a black cloud passed overhead. The weather here is bizarre!
I hope things are going well at the dentist. I know the anxiety a trip to any medical appointment triggers. What a frightening world we live in. 36 bags is a lot of mulch! We get about 6 bags for our little condo plot. But we will wait for Memorial Day so we don’t crush the chionodoxas until they’re done blooming. I’m amazed they keep coming back for so many years now. This year I ordered a wreath for the front door that matches them perfectly. Yesterday I weeded my container moss garden on the balcony. It felt good doing some mini-gardening in the fresh spring air. I hope that snowstorm fizzles and you get your shot without incident!
Such lovely photos and indications of spring! Wish I could do those walks in person, but am so grateful to you and Tim for sharing the photos and the comments.
Thank you, Liz! I find myself appreciating springtime a little more than usual this year. It would be so lovely to have you join us for a walk if you ever come up to Connecticut for a visit! We think of you often while we’re out there and fondly remember your beautiful gardens.