Maple lights

The way these whirligigs are illuminated by the late afternoon sun captured my attention for a good 10 minutes or so on my walk home.

I've been away from thinking about trees for a while. The past six months have involved lots of changes for me---rather like the changes a tree might have to go through in the spring if it were replanted in a new location the previous fall. Even if the new location is a better one, on higher ground with less flooding, with more sunlight, and lots of room to grow, there's a lot to adapt to, and sinking down new roots requires a lot of work.

Of course, a tree doesn't have to move itself or have to figure out the logistics of moving. Heh.

This fall finds me in a new state working at a new job that I'm much better suited for. I'm so happy with the changes I've made. Still, lots of changes. Lots of adapting.

In my new town, I'm surrounded by oodles of magnificent trees, both large and small. They're impossible to ignore, especially in all their glorious fall colors. They also deserve to be shared, and I shall do my best on that over the next several months.

Running a bit behind

I'm getting there, Tulips!  See, my buds with wee leaves emerging.  No mocking just because you got to spring first!

Redbud

At least I think this an Eastern Redbud...although the flowers are pink.  Yes, I don't understand either.  However misnamed it might be, it is still puts on a beautiful spring show.

Almost tree flowers

Not quite yet....but soon.

Tree flower

Perhaps not as showy as what we typically think of as a flower, but up close still incredibly beautiful.

Magnolia

One day I spent waaay to much time wandering around the parking lot before work taking pictures of the spring trees. I felt a bit silly...until I ran into my boss, who was also taking pictures of this lovely magnolia.

New leaves with pink flowers

Framing this shot against the white house in the background really lets the texture of the new leaves show.  And I loved the added pop of color from the flowers just about ready to bloom.

New Leaves

I had to fiddle with this to get it to show up more clearly.  Most of my new leaf photos didn't turn out, but I wanted to share at least some of them.

Forsythia

It has bark, therefore I think we should just pretend it's a short tree.  After all, what's spring without some gorgeous forsythia in full bloom.

Spring willow with fungi

This is a beautiful willow tree that I saw near a parking lot I that I often drive by.  The fungi (which I'm guessing are Alder Brackets) really catch the eye with the shadows and texture they add to the otherwise smooth branch. Although I know that fungus can be a sign of a wound in the tree, nonetheless I found the composition of the willow with it's new leaves and fungus ladder to be completely riveting.

Spring!

There were a few days back toward the beginning of April that I was wondering if we were going to skip spring and move right on to summer.  Thank goodness Mother Nature righted herself, because I love spring trees!  I know, I know.  I love trees no matter the season, but there's something about trees in the spring.  The bright green of new leaves against the dark bark. Sigh. Love.

Also, very distracting when you're driving because the subtleties of the spring colors and shapes are much harder to see from the road than say, the colors in autumn.

In spring, the trees change so quickly!  This means that if you want to capture the new leaves and the shimmery flowers, you can't wait for the weekend.  You have to try to capture the intriguing beauty right then.

This is a round-about way of my saying that for several hours on several different days, I dashed around like the fool for trees that I am, trying to capture the diversity of tree flowers and the emerging leaves. Unfortunately, I only had my camera phone, so not all the photos turned out.

But some of them did!  These photos are what I'll be sharing for the next several weeks.  Whether spring has already sprung in your part of the northern hemisphere, or whether it is still waiting out the last dregs of winter, I hope you'll enjoy spring here in Maryland.

Looking Up

Although this almost looks like it could have been taken in the spring, it was actually taken last fall.  It was a particularly hard day, following a number of other particularly hard days.  I went outside and leaned back again this tall, strong tree, closed my eyes, and just let it support me while I breathed in and out, smelling the clean, leaf-scented air.

Eventually, I opened my eyes and looked up.  I'm very glad I had my phone with me.

Gnarly spring tree

Note the leaves leafing out from the burl.

Tree in tree

This discarded wee Christmas tree got wedged in the larger tree by the wind...and it was stuck up there for a good long while.  I don't think it was still there when I moved back to the US.

New leaf green - 2

I loved the contrasts in this picture:  The dark, almost black bark against the vivid green, against the light stone of the tenement.

New leaf green - 1

Ok, I've decided to share a few more tree photos from my walk home from when I lived in Edinburgh.  And then I'll bombard you with all the spring tree pictures I've been taking here in Maryland over the past week or so.

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Best of both

And of course, if a tree is really showing off with both flowers and spring leaves....sigh.  Honestly, I could just stare at them for hours.  It's a wonder I made it successfully to and from work on the days I had this to look at.

Spring trees

More than trees in full bloom, what I really, really love about trees in the spring is the color of new leaves, especially the contrast of new leaves against dark bark.

Walking home in Edinburgh

This week I decided to share a few pictures from my walk home when I lived in Scotland.  It's still spring there, as you can see from flowering cherry trees.  At least I think they're cherry trees.

Early Spring in the Meadows

Another picture of The Meadows in Edinburgh, taken on a glorious, early spring day.