Gloomy Memorial Day

 This is not the sunny, warm Memorial Day we all would have liked, but we are getting a gentle, pretty steady rain that is very much needed in our region. The trees are bursting with variations of fresh green leaves washed clean of pollen and dust by the rain. My lilac bushes seem to have deeper color and the young leaves on my backyard fruit trees are vivid against the shiny wet bark of limbs and trunks. I say "fruit trees" because I really don't know what kind of trees they are. 

I am somewhat like bluejays that stash nuts in various places and then forget where they hid them. I tuck fruit pits like cherry or peach into the ground and not only don't label them, I forget about them. My latest pop-up trees appeared about five years ago in a garden we had in the back yard. 

During those years we had an area in the vegetable garden where we dug holes and buried kitchen scraps. It was our way of composting, and worked exceptionally well. The area that we dug during any given season was then ready to be turned into garden space for crops the following year. Sometime during those years, these two trees appeared. Fortunately, they are spaced well apart and I decided to let them stay to see what they developed into. One is a light green, much like an apple leaf, the other has a pinking tinge - I suspect it could be a peach tree. So far they have both survived winters, but neither has blossomed. I have kept them trimmed and I think they are a nice addition to the back lawn, regardless of what they turn out to be.  This is my view of them from my office window. Whatever they are, I like them and they get to stay!

On Saturday, Gretchen Farnsworth sent this photo of the sunrise. It came in a different format - something new called HEIC that I couldn't open. I fiddled around trying, but failed and asked Gretchen to resend in jpg, which she easily did. Here is the photo - lovely beginning to our Saturday, but then Gretchen said the sky changed right after she took the shot. It so often is a matter of timing to get just the right camera shot. It turned out to be a fairly nice day in spite of the old warning, "Red sunrise in morning, sailors take warning." Thanks again, Gretchen. Nice shot.