TJ Fox: Sharing the Experience
Author… Artist… Amateur Photographer… Book Reviewer… Mom
To everyone that has ever filled the role of Mother, no matter your gender or DNA, Happy Mother’s Day!
For me, being Mom has never been just bout having given birth, though that is part of my motherhood. It is about going to countless baseball games, screaming and cheering until my voice gives out, even if I cannot stand baseball.
The chokecherry is probably one of my favorite trees and I’ve posted about it before because of that. This year, the timing was perfect to have the windows open for a couple of days when this was in full bloom, meaning I could sit here and just be enveloped in the absolutely wonderful smell those blooms produce. Sadly, they only lasted those few days. Now we are down to the bloom/seed stalks left after all those gorgeous petals have been blown away.
I’m also hugely saddened that my second tree is struggling this year and it looks like half or a little better died off over the winter. It had almost no blooms on it because such a small part of it made it to spring. We’ve had that one in the ground for probably 3 years now, so it really hurts to lose so much of its size.
Image can be purchased on TJs Pixels site.
Life has felt kind of like I’ve been tossed into a food processor on high lately. That isn’t even a really accurate analogy as it does not encompass all the extreme highs and lightning fast changes that bring crazy, insane lows. Sometimes over days. Sometimes it changes in as little as an hour or two. As soon as I’m experiencing one, for any number of reasons, something will come along and yank me to the other extreme. It is maddening.
The Chokecherry is one of my favorite trees. While it is in its growing season, it is just almost always interesting or unique. When it comes out in the spring, it starts with these medium green leaves and shortly after, usually in mid to late April or early May, it puts on these gorgeous white blossom clusters, much like a Lilac bush. The entire tree is just covered in them. Sadly, I didn’t manage to get a pic when the blooms were at their peak. These have already dropped about half the flowers from the clusters.
After the flowers are done and you are left with what looks like most any other tree, June hits and suddenly those pretty medium green leaves start to change to this beautiful, deep plum color that it hangs on to until the fall where that darkens before the leaves finally drop for the season.
I have two of these in my yard and would probably have at least a couple more if I had the room for them. It makes for a stunning show when they are paired with other trees that remain vibrant green through the summer. It has taken several years, but I have this park like feel to my back yard now that these and my other trees have finally gotten some good height and growth on them. The blooms are done for the season, but I will be watching for the signs of the color change towards the end of the month.
