Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Snake Bit

Snake-bit. That describes my attempts to get suitable pictures of that ornamental cherry tree outside my door that is in full-bloom… for the first time in two years… three, if one counts this year. The weather has simply not been cooperative, what with multiple cold fronts marching down from the north like Sherman through Georgia. Our normally brilliant, bright, sunshiny days and indescribably blue skies have been replaced with an oppressive, smothering sort of gray that varies from a full-blown darkest-of-dark overcasts to thin gray-white clouds, with predictable impact on available light.

Cherry blossoms are ephemeral things with the shortest of lives, so I’m feeling time-constrained when it comes to capturing the images I want. I’m somewhat surprised the blossoms have lasted as long as they have, what with the first fragile pink blooms appearing one week ago today. Speaking of today… the tree is probably just a wee bit beyond full bloom at the moment, yet remains in what I would call a glorious state. Here are a couple of less-than-impressive shots I took a few minutes ago.

The images above were mildly Photoshopped to increase contrast and adjust the color balance in an attempt to overcome the washed-out quality of today's light. That said... it’s clearing up a bit as I post. Perhaps the light will be better this afternoon and I can realize the goal.

―:☺:―

In other snake-bit news… my rescheduled titanium screw implant procedure was supposed to happen tomorrow but has been put off again. This time it’s on me and not the Good Doctor. I’ve come down with another one of those recurring, irritating, and mildly discomforting oral infections that makes oral surgery inadvisable, as there's no sense in tempting fate... such as the spread of said infection to the areas scheduled for slicing and dicing. So: next week, yet again.

9 comments:

  1. Just knowing that Spring is happening somewhere in the US makes me feel good.

    Thanks Buck.

    We here in Western NY should see Spring in another 10 weeks or so.

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  2. The fruit trees around here have been budding out and are beautiful. Maybe the wind will die down before all of the blossoms are gone.

    I hopw you get over your infection soon and can get on with your oral surgery.

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  3. Good pics of the tree, Buck. I'm with Tim, it's nice to spring is occurring somewhere. It's definitely not showing any signs here, as evidenced by the pictures I took yesterday.

    Hope the infection heals soon. I know you are looking forward to having this surgery.

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  4. In our Portales backyard, long ago, we had a cherry tree. Neighbors on both sides had them, too. For some reason, theirs would bloom two weeks before ours. And every year, a cold snap zapped the buds before they were fertilized.

    No cherries for them. But our tree, oh boy. Sour tart juicy cherries by the bushel. We would pick the tree until my mom was sick of putting them up, and then we would beg friends to come over and harvest more.

    My job was to climb up into the interior part of the tree, because I was skinny enough. I spent a lot of time up in there, filling many, many ice cream buckets with cherries.

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  5. Buck, except for the fact that there is not a brilliant blue sky in the pictures, the cherry tree itself looks fantastic all covered with blossoms.

    We are seeing signs of spring here too -- trees getting buds, early perennials getting new green growth. I'm ready with my camera too, to capture spring as it comes here. Are you a bird watcher and are you seeing a lot of birds? I love watching them and trying to identify them. Wish I could get some good pictures of them but I don't think I am patient enough to wait.

    Tim - where in upstate NY? I grew up near Rochester, and even though spring comes there late, when it does it is usually worth the wait.

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  6. Just came from the dentist myself, Buck. Had impressions taken for my lowers. My extractions are scheduled for 4/30. We'll commiserate as our times come :-)

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  7. tim: It's back to winter today and for the next few, what with highs only in the mid-40s for the rest of the week... and a possibility of snow. Typical Spring weather for these parts.

    Lou: The VERY hard freeze tonight will kill off all the blossoms, I'm afraid. We're dropping down into the low 20s.

    Gordon: Did you jinx me? ;-)

    This tree is strictly ornamental... no cherries at all. More's the pity! I envy your experience as a kid; that must have been way-cool.

    Sharon: We're also seeing more and more Spring-stuff. But we'll have to start all over on Saturday when it warms up again...

    While I'm not exactly a birder in the hobby sense... with field glasses, manuals, and all that... I enjoy watching them. Except for the danged gackels (noisy, obnoxious, large black birds), who leave their calling cards ALL over my danged car!

    Jim: I went through something similar to your upcoming experience a few years back in SFO... but I had a permanent bridge put in when I had my lowers done. But yeah: we will commiserate together. Hopefully my implants will occur around the same time as you get your extractions. Or maybe I'm being overly optimistic. We'll see.

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  8. Sorry to hear about your postponement, Buck! Hopefully everything will work out perfectly next week. I'll keep my fingers crossed.

    We also have ornamental cherries all over my apartment complex, and they are all in bloom...absolutely beautiful!

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  9. Things ARE looking up, Christina. I think I'll make Tuesday's appointment.

    And... amazingly enough... my cherry tree still has a full complement of blossoms, despite last night's hard freeze.

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