Spring is really bursting here at the moment, with all the pinks and whites and yellows and fresh greens at their brightest and most radiant. Dave accused me of amping up the color in this photo, and I swear I did not. That's honestly what it looks like out there right now.
One street not far from our flat is lined with those pink cherry trees, and I take Olga there every day just to walk beneath them. At every other time of year, it's an ordinary street, but in May it's magical. I took Olga for two long walks yesterday because it's so nice to be outside in this weather.
Not all our trees are doing so well, though. This one on the corner was mysteriously felled just a few days ago. I'm not sure when it happened -- one minute it was there, the next it was gone. And I'm not sure why it happened, because it looked fine to me. (You can see it in the center-right of this photo.) But street trees disappear around here with dismaying regularity. The government powers-that-be seem quite aggressive with their chainsaws.
As you can see, someone attached a little memorial to the tree's stump -- a sort of yarn doily and a copy of Joyce Kilmer's poem "Trees." But even that was gone in a flash. I took this photo about 6 a.m. yesterday morning, and by 9 a.m. the stump had been ground down to sawdust.
To quote Kurt Vonnegut: "And so it goes."
I always wonder how trees in the cities survive anyway in areas where the ground is covered in concrete except for the little square or circle around the trunk. How can they get enough water for one thing?
ReplyDeleteThat doily-covered stump sort of makes me want to cry. City trees- the ones that survive are cherished all the more, aren't they? Each one a wonder.
ReplyDeleteHey that's crochet - I could make a doily like that! But how sad to even need it...
ReplyDeleteI often amp up the color in photos. I don't think it's cheating, just a personal choice. i love that tree you caught in full bloom. it's true, city trees are a marvel.
ReplyDeleteSince I am not a photographer I amp the colour frequently , otherwise everything in the winter would be grey. Need light for colour...poor tree.
ReplyDeleteWhen your first photo showed up I immediately went to the arrow and "clicked"...hahahaha programmed much?
Over the past several years, South River cut a ton of ancient trees down along Main Street. They were so beautiful and actually formed a arch over the street but, at the same time, they did a number of the sidewalks with their huge roots. They are finally replanting...hope these new trees take off like rockets. I miss the arch!
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