SPRING 2023, WEEK 9: This has to be the weirdest spring since I started this annual series way back when(ever). Always before when the blooming began, it began all at once; flowers, trees, brush all at once, then 2-3 weeks for everything to fill out.

This year has been different. No sychronization, start, stop, pause, restart, and all independently. That said, let's start this post with the usual view from the deck.

A lot has changed since last week; trees are much fuller at their crowns and the trees in the background on the other side of the pond have significantly turned greener.

The fire pit/barn/lawn view is similar. Grass is greener, fuller, and in need of mowing again. Ground cover is still sparse, but that's mostly a result of my chipping up a pile of tree limbs to add to the mulch pile. And finally, the trees are beginning to fill in with leaves after being bare for so long.

Along the opposite side of the road from our house, the foliage has finally begun to fill in. The crowns of all the trees along that stretch of our road have finally begun to bud out and I expect significant growth in the next week.

Our very hardy dogwood has now lost all its blooms and nearly completely filled in with leaves. Its companion, which I was sure had died, has just begun to blossom so maybe it'll be good for another year.

Here's a final shot of the neighborhood, looking down the road. It's looking a bit like summer -- still a bit too cool, but summer nonetheless.

Until next week....