Okay, I can finally say it... spring has arrived! I knew it last week when I heard the Meadow Lark singing to the morning sun, but today it's finally official, and I couldn't be more excited!
Walking around my neighborhood a few days ago the trees were in agreement. At the end of almost every branch sat a little bud, just making it's way into the newly warm sunshine.
Buds really are an amazing little wonder. Starting way down in the roots of the tree, the buds protect tree leaves and flowers until it's time to bloom. Better still, buds, and their protective scales can help you to identify a tree with out even seeing its leaves.
As the leaves and flowers grow, the scales are pushed back and fall off, leaving a distinctive mark on each kind of tree. The terminal bud is also kind of wonderful. If a terminal bud (the bud at the end of the branch) is allowed to continue growing, the place where scare is left by the scale becomes a an indicator of just how old the tree is. Like counting the rings of a tree after it has been cut down, only you don't have to cut down the tree, you just have to count the scale scars along the twig or branch.
So small, and seemingly insignificant, buds are anything but that. For me, the sight of a bud on a tree or a flower is a beautiful sign of all the wonder yet to come. So get out there this week and enjoy those first glorious days of spring. Maybe even take a nature journal with you, make a few sketches, or take a few pictures and learn a little bit more about how this miracle of seasonal magic really happens.
Happy first day of spring!
~Jordan
*Last time in Nature: Camera Lens Camouflage
