Picture of the day - April 18, 2005

Apple Blossoms - A Sure Sign Of Spring!

There are several ways to tell when spring has sprung: the grass turns a deep, lush green and before you know it you have to break out the lawn mower. Crocuses pop up through the snow and apple blossoms suddenly appear on branches that had seemed lifeless just days before. The apple blossoms bring back memories of my youth, when the apple trees in dad's tiny orchard joined the other fruit trees in shaking off the winter cold and announcing the arrival of a new growing season. Spring was always a time of hope and renewal. Dad always loved fruit trees. Almost every fall he would order a few saplings of apple, peach, pear, cherry, apricot... you name it. If it was a fruit that could be grown in southwestern Virginia he wanted a tree in his orchard or somewhere in the yard to produce it. On the winter days that were warm enough for him to go outside and walk through the orchard, dad would carefully inspect the trees, looking for signs that a rabbit, deer or other critter had been gnawing on the bark. He would check every one of them to make sure they would survive the winter and be ready to get a running start in April and May. All in all, with just a few exceptions dad's fruit trees never really bore very much fruit. It takes a while for a fruit tree to begin bearing fruit in large quantities, and he and mom sold the old homeplace before they had matured to that point. But it really didn't matter. You see, dad found his enjoyment in the process - planning which fruit trees to order, carefully planting them, caring for them and giving them the opportunity to bear fruit at some point in the future. For dad, like spring itself, planting an orchard meant planting a seed of hope and optimism - doing his best to enjoy today while looking forward to tomorrow.   Picture Of The Day Homepage Interesting Articles