Spots of Color

The redbud trees where I live have been adding spots of color and helping us overcome the drabness that accompanies prolonged periods of time spent indoors because of COVID-19.

Natural Music of Birds

Like everyone else where I live, I have been remaining at home where I exercise daily by lifting weights and by riding a stationary bicycle. When I can get away from the computer and my online classes, I have been walking in a wooded area not far from where I live. This location is much more musical than where I usually walk because of the number of birds. Other walkers pass me in both directions while I tend to linger so that I can hear the birds. The other day I noticed that two or three birds, none of which I could identify, were prominent in the foreground while a mourning dove added its mournful cry in the background. If I were able to write music, I think I would try to capture this natural music, with a bassoon or a double bass replacing the mourning dove in the background and a clarinet, oboe, and alto sax replacing the more prominent birds in the foreground. I suspect that early humans attempted to imitate the birds when they first started to create musical instruments. Jon Hassell, the trumpeter credited with creating fourth world music, while commenting on the advantages created by technology in music, says in a recent interview that “we don’t ever want to lose the joy of hearing” instruments “imitating bird calls.” I probably need to dig out David Rothenberg’s One Dark Night I Left My Silent House, which was released in 2010 and which draws inspiration from birds, with titles like “What Birds Sing,” “Owl Moon,” and “Grosbeak.”

Pear Blossoms

I don't have any magnolia pictures to share this year. Last year, when I hired a tree trimmer to cut down an ash tree that was dying from an ash borer infestation, the tree trimmer had to cut back the magnolia to gain access to the ash tree. Several tree trimmers have told me that tree limbs need to grow upwards. The magnolia in the yard was shaped more like a willow with the branches nearly touching the ground. It was a great place to get pictures of the blossoms in the spring and to stay cool in the summer. This year, however, it was difficult to get any pictures because the branches are so high now.

In place of the magnolia blossoms, I am adding pictures of two pear trees that were in bloom last week. It was cloudy the first day; the sun appeared on the second day when I was taking pictures. We have since had a frost, and I haven't been back to see how the blossoms have fared. Another frost is expected next week.