Maple Tree Adoration

When my parents bought their home, it was one of the first in a new development, taking over a farmer’s cleared field. This meant we had no trees in our yard. My Mom grew up in a house surrounded by old majestic trees. She was determined to have the same in her new home. Unable to afford buying them, she and my older brother hiked off to the closest woods and dug up as many small native trees as she could, hauling them back to our yard. She lined them along our property line and lovingly watered them. It took many many years, but those trees now are truly majestic, offering lots of shade and privacy and most importantly, homes to many small animals and birds.

Recently I traveled out to the desert southwest. I missed seeing trees. Here in New England we have many types, and that trip really drove home how, like my Mom, I couldn’t live without the beauty of closely packed trees.

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For that reason, it was a sad day when I had to cut down the last tree in my yard. My Swamp Maple Trees offered many years of beauty, tree-forts and climbing, shade for outdoor activities, hours of fun watching squirrels and birds, and the less obvious, soaking up excess rainwater. Oh, how brave they had been up till then, surviving several onslaughts of flooding and rough salted air that burned their leaves. We even used them as anchors for tying off small boats and such that we didn’t want floating away during those storms! Then it happened. We had two hurricanes in a row and they didn’t have enough time to recover in between. They succumbed and I sadly had to have them cut down because it was too dangerous to leave them up. Winter winds would have brought them down and caused damage to our home. It was indeed sad to see them go. Thank you dear trees for all your service.

As you can see I do adore trees. So many of my photos over the years include them. One Maple tree in particular I snapped a photo of and it gave me an idea. What if I visited it each season? I could show everyone how wonderful New England trees are. This idea began a wonderful side challenge and obsession that lasted over several years. Often I would drop everything if the sky was just right, or we had a recent snowstorm, in order to take a picture of it. Yes, I stalked a tree! I admit it! And it was great fun.

Early Spring

Early Spring

 

 

 

 

 

 

Spring

Spring

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Summer

Summer

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Early Fall

Early Fall

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Late Fall

Late Fall

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Winter is coming!

Winter is coming!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Winter Solstice

Winter Solstice

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Have a wonderful day and take a few moments to cherish the trees around you!

Atwood

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