Trees and Blossoms

As you look out at the numerous poplar trees around our acreage, you notice there is a faint green veil on the branches right now. The buds have popped open and the tiny leaves are peeking out, getting ready for the warmer weather. It's my favorite time of the year right now when everything starts out looking so fresh and new in the spring. Mother Nature gives all new growth the most beautiful green color here in Alberta in May. But it's still only April, so right now we are still only anticipating all the beauty about to come.

The chokecherry trees have huge flower buds on them now which are threatening to burst out any day! That's about 2 weeks earlier than usual around here. (The photos at the top are last year's.)

I love when the plum trees, apple trees, chokecherry trees and saskatoon bushes in the yard and surrounding area are in full bloom! That's Mother Nature at her most spectacular! If I remember correctly, the chokecherry trees are usually the first to burst! LOL! (Will keep you posted about that. :)

I couldn't imagine life without trees. I think they are highly underrated. Not only do they provide wood for building materials and logs for fireplaces, they give shelter for birds and other animals as well as shading us on a hot summer's day, protecting us from the sun's intense rays and also from the blasts of the fiercest winds! Trees are the 'lungs' of our planet, producing fresh oxygen for us to breathe and absorbing carbon dioxide, something that humans all seem to take for granted. The lowly tree, after providing us with so much, asks for little in return other than that we let them be and allow them to grow. What's easier than that???

Speaking of carbon dioxide, how do we counteract all the excess carbon dioxide in the atmosphere? Well how about planting MORE trees instead of cutting down acre after acre of rainforests, which is what is happening on our earth every single day by narrow minded, money greedy companies!

Okay, you've figured out that I'm a tree hugger! And proud of it, too! No I don't go around chaining myself to trees to stop logging companies from destroying great tracts of forests, (but the thought HAS occurred to me!) I do support Greenpeace, and admire the courage and tenacity of the young Greenpeace activists who are trying to make a statement and bring atrocities to light. I wish that I would have done more of that kind of brave and exciting life changing action when I was younger. Now I just support them in my heart and mind (and on my blog) as well as financially now and then.