Weekly Photo Challenge: Awakening

This is the view from the upper deck of my house. The magnolia tree and the blue spruce are in my yard. Beyond them is the Greenbelt which is full trees and plants awakening.

I love watching ferns in their awakening process. Each of the photos below is of a different fern. Most of them are in the Greenbelt.

By June, many of them will look like this.

Awakening

Daily Prompt: Perfume

I have been working so much in the Greenbelt that I have neglected my own yard. Last week, I temporarily changed my priorities.

Yesterday afternoon, I spread cedar chips in the walkways. Their smell is like perfume to me.

Note 1: The flower petals are falling from the magnolia tree above.
Note 2: There is no part of this area that is finished but I hope the photos gave you a glimpse of what it is becoming.

Daily Prompt: Perfume

Astounding Beauty

I remodeled my house in 1985. The windows to the kitchen were boarded up for at least 3 months. On the day that they took the boards off the windows, this was the view. The tree is as beautiful today as it was on that 1985 morning.

Good Morning to You!

In the early to mid 90’s, I wrote a fun devotional song that my son told me sounded like a sea chantey. Years later, one line from that song would often come into my mind when I went on morning walks. At that point, though, the lyrics were different. They became “Good morning to you, good morning to you, good morning, good morning, good morning, good morning, good morning, good morning, good morning to you.” I would sing the ditty to the plants and trees I encountered on my walk.

Thursday night, we had a big rain and wind storm in Seattle. On Friday morning I went outside to see how the trees fared. I found myself singing that song to each tree along my way.

First I visited the trees in my back yard:

Maple tree, good morning to you!

Holly tree, good morning to you!

Magnolia tree, good morning to you!

Juniper trees, good morning to you!

Blue Spruce, good morning to you!

Next, I walked down to the Greenbelt lot where we’ve been rescuing the trees from blackberry vines and ivy. I was eager to check out what had happened there during the storm. I could tell everything was fine, but it was still windy so I didn’t go as close to those trees as I would have normally. I didn’t want to take any chance that a dead branch would drop on my head.

Cherry trees, good morning to you!

Cedar trees, good morning to you!

Buddleia, good morning to you!
I look forward to seeing who you become now that you are freed from the blackberries. I also look forward to seeing if butterflies flock to your blooms.

Hawthorne tree, good morning to you!
I look forward to seeing what happens now that you have a chance to thrive.

And last but not least, beautiful Alder, good morning to you!

I thoroughly enjoyed my morning visit to each of these trees. Maybe this will become a daily ritual for me!

I wish each of you who read this post a very good morning, no matter what time of day it is in your part of the world.

cropped-senior-salon

Shared on Senior Salon 11/2/2016

Even More Beautiful

I didn’t think the magnolia could get any more beautiful than it was last week, but I was wrong. It is so stunning today now that it has both leaves and flowers. I wish you could all be here to see it. The pictures only give a tiny glimpse of its magnificence.

The View

When I remodeled my house in the mid 80’s, the kitchen windows were boarded up for three months. The day the boards were taken down, I was treated to a view that was breathtaking. While the tree is much bigger now, I feel as moved by what I am seeing from my kitchen window today as I did on that day in the 80’s. (In the 80’s it reached this stage mid April. Due to the warm winter, it is in full bloom on March 9.)