I put Gracie in her crate and left for the lake. Truth be told, I felt a little guilty leaving her home, especially when I pulled into a parking space next to another visitor who emerged from her car with a tail-wagging dog eager to start a good long walk. I greeted the young woman with the happy dog, kicked my guilt to the curb, and stuck to my plan to walk the lake trail a couple of times alone, giving my favorite season some uninterrupted attention.
Surprisingly, the first thing to make my heart sing was not the least bit spring-like. I’d barely entered the woods when I paused at the sight of bare branches bearing impressive thorns. They brought to mind the stand of hawthorns we’d delightfully discovered when we purchased our property and how, just a few days before this walk, hawthorns had popped into my mind as trees to be considered for planting alongside our trails. I knew I was where I was meant to be.
I love hawthorns’ appeal to wildlife and their Victorian meaning: hope. I spent some time with this one, blurring the background “like a canvas” as he would say. I hope he likes it.
