Beginnings

If there’s a hero of the springtime blooming season to be found in the woodlands of this part of the world, for me it has to be the Dogwood.

They are one of the earliest joyous signs of a new growing season in its earliest stages. Described as an 'understory' tree, they are of relatively diminutive size when compared to the alpha dogs of the woodlands...primarily oaks & maples in this part of the world.

But despite that size disparity, dogwoods frequently steal the show in early spring. They are a perfect example of a quote from photographer Ruth Bernhard...'If you are not willing to see more than is visible, you won’t see anything.' So, it is with the dogwood. Some may see them as simply a smallish tree that blooms white flowers in spring. But the bloom of each tree takes on its own personality...

~ They can turn into a sea of white pointillism raining down in the forest.

~ They can take on the persona of a winged creature soaring through the scene.

~ They can mimic a waterfall of flowering joy cascading down from the canopy...a flowerfall, if you will.

~ The tiered nature of their branching can remind one of a child’s twirl-a-whirl. ~ Or the sparseness of flowering can lend a sense of abstract minimalism in an otherwise sea of ‘busy’.