Saturday, February 25, 2023

Watching the dogwoods bloom

 This is the way it happens: You notice that a tree that was bare yesterday is covered in white flowers. They are bracts, actually, but they look like flowers. The white is dazzling, especially if the tree is in a forest with evergreens.

And then, within a day or two, the white seems to be turning the palest shade of green. That’s if you’re at a distance. As you get closer, you see that the new leaves are coming, following the blooms, as is the way of dogwoods.

Our language is impoverished on this point. You mix white with red to get pink. But the mix of white with pale green doesn’t have a name, at least one that I know.

Some people travel the world to see the wonders. I’ve done a little of that myself. But I don’t think I’ve seen a wonder greater than this.

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