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Category Archives: trees


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SoCS: Portraits of America from Monster to Norman Rockwell

 Today’s prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is “portrait.” Use it way you’d like. Have fun!

Where have all the portraits gone? I still have photos of grandkids scattered around the house and old school pictures of my kids. They still do school pictures, but I have not liked the ones I see lately. So many pictures these days are on our phones or digitally exist in the cloud of something along with our laptops.

The portrait setting on my phone takes good pictures sometimes by blurring the background when you want to focus on one item. I experimented with this today on this apple blossom.

Looking at it now, it seems to have a lot of white on it. Is that fungus? I probably should have sprayed it with neem oil before the blossoms. Now I have to wait till the blossoms are gone because I don’t want to disturb the potential pollinators.

Last spring, I was horrified to find Japanese beetles all over our two little apple trees, devouring the leaves, so I’ve been ready with the neem oil, which is good for bugs as well as fungus, if I recall correctly. I’m going to look at the little apple trees every day and be ready. That’s my goal. The neem oil is supposed to be more eco-friendly than some other options.

I’ll probably think of something else I would like to write about later with the prompt. But maybe not. Maybe that’s it.

Oh, yeah, I was thinking right after reading the prompt about a portrait of America and Norman Rockwell. My parents had a book of Norman Rockwell paintings. The book was falling apart, having provided many hours of enjoyment, so before letting it go, I took photos of my favorite pictures and will look for them in a minute. The stream of consciousness is pulling me along.

Portrait of America. Wasn’t that a TV show?

“America, where are you now, don’t you care about your sons and daughters? Don’t you know, we need you now, we can’t fight alone against the monster….”

That was from possibly the hardest rock album I ever owned. Steppenwolf, Monster. from 1969.

Okay, it’s not really hard rock, just hard truth.

Norman Rockwell was a very talented artist. Many of his paintings were funny. Some were serious, and some were dramatic. I decided to play it safe and just share his most iconic paintings along with the inscription from Mom to Dad.

Inscription

We have choices. Many choices.

Sometimes I just want to take care of my apple trees.

Sometimes I do a little more.

~~~

For more streams of consciousness, visit out host, Linda G. Hill by clicking the link below:

The Friday Reminder and Prompt for #SoCS March 28, 2026 |


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Thursday Tree Love: Waiting for Spring Along the Back Road

David and I took Marley for a walk on the back road we get to by going up the hill behind our back yard. The light is always interesting there. We felt the trees waiting for spring. The biggest tree below was full of red buds. I don’t if it’s a “Red Bud” tree though since they are usually smaller and bud later. David says it’s probably a maple.

Red buds waiting for spring

I asked friends on Facebook for help identifying the trees planted as a border by a neighbor and they turned out to be Japanese Cedars (pictured below.)

Japanese Cedar

The next photo is enlarged to see the Blue Ridge Mountains in the distance.

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Thursday Tree Love is hosted by Parul Thakur.

For more tree love, visit Parul at

https://happinessandfood.com/2026/02/12/thursdaytreelove-197/


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SoCS: The Tree Monster and a Day Trip

Today’s prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is “alarm.” Use it as a noun, use it as a verb or an adverb or an adjective, use it any way you’d like. Enjoy!

Don’t be alarmed, but I think there’s a giant monster in the trees! Do you see it? There in the middle of the treetops?

This guy looks scary, because he’s got a scary expression on his face. Why is it a he? I don’t know. If it was an Ent like from The Lord of the Rings, that would be cool. Maybe he’s angry because people are cutting down so many trees.

But not HERE, Tree Monster! So, chill out! This is a safe place for trees. I was trying to take a picture of the blue, blue sky, and you showed up. I’m sorry people are cutting down so many trees. Maybe you’ve been traumatized by too many alarms coming through the underground network, lost too many friends.

We should only use the trees that have fallen down. Buy used furniture. I know my man buys new wood for some projects, but I won’t. And he repurposes a lot.

I know you give us oxygen, clean our air, and make homes for birds… and humans take you all for granted.

Relax, tree monster. Let’s be friends. You’re safe here. I’ll try to help.

~~~

Here are some photos from a recent day trip about two hours west of us where the fall colors were starting to pop out.

The falling lights remind me of Spanish moss back east.
“More please.”

We ate lunch at Kaye’s by the River in Newland, NC. David and Marley enjoyed the breakfast buffet. I had spinach salad with pecans and cran-raisins, and we all had fries. Then David walked Marley on the bridge over the “river.” Marley has been afraid to walk on bridges, but he’s getting better with practice.

~~~

For more streams and rules,

visit our host, Linda G.Hill

by clicking HERE.


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Tree Love: Reaching for the Stars

“Keep your feet on the ground and keep reaching for the stars.” *

Casey Kasem

We discovered this pine tree on a recent hike a few miles from our house. I was impressed by the stature and what appears to be a feminine form with arms raised to the sky.

* Seems like I was a teenager when I listened to Casey Kasem close his American Top 40s radio program with the quote about keeping your feet on the ground and keep reaching for the stars. His voice was positive and comforting. Remembering this uplifting quote got me to research Mr. Kasem, and I was surprised to find out he did the voice of Shaggy in the Scooby Doo Cartoon and delighted to learn he was a dedicated vegan supporting animal rights and environmental causes. Wikipedia writes: “He initially quit voicing Shaggy in the mid to late 1990s when asked to voice Shaggy in a Burger King commercial but returned in 2002 after negotiating to have Shaggy become a vegetarian once again.”

For more Tree love, visit Paurl Thankur at her blog, Happiness and Food


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My Neighbor’s Prolific Pear Tree

In my last Tree Love post, I mentioned the pear tree next door which has become gloriously fruitful. My neighbor does not collect or eat many of the pears himself and has invited us to take whatever we want. We’ve probably collected about 100 pears over the summer. The pears are crisp and hard for a long time but will eventually get softer in a paper bag. Last week, I took my neighbor a pear cobbler.

Deer visit often, usually in the evening, to feast on the abundant fallen fruit. David and I both enjoy seeing them through our kitchen window.

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The glass bluebird sits on my windowsill.

One afternoon, we saw something moving in the high branches but could not tell what kind of animal it was. My guess from glimpses was a racoon.

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Thursday Tree Love is hosted by Parul Thakur.

You can find more tree love at Parul’s blog:

Happiness and Food.


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Thursday Tree Love: They’re Still Alive!

Honey Crisp ~ Planted March 20th

With high hopes, David and I bought and planted two apple trees in late March. I said prayers and put a little fence around the Honey Crisp in the inner dog yard. Macintosh is in the outer yard. Over the spring they grew leaves and blossoms.

As spring was turning to summer, I saw some rusty colored spots on the leaves called the nursery who referred me to the county agricultural agency which took a few days to get someone who sent me a link with an article recommending something called SI FRAC 3 fungicide which we did not find at Lowes. So, we got NEEM oil and waited for a day with no rain to spray.

One day not long after that, I was horrified to see Honey Crisp covered in Japanese beetles! I shook them off and saw that about half of her leaves were turning to brown lace. After we sprayed neem, the beetles scattered and did not return. We sprayed Macintosh who had a few more leaves but had also been attacked by the beetles.

Over the next few months, I saw only a few beetles and shook them off or watered them away. Unfortunately, all the leaves eventually turned brown and withered away by mid-summer. I feared the trees were dead. I emailed the nursery, but before getting a response, gave in to my urge to trim the tallest branch sticking up from Honey Crisp. (I’d had good results with trimming back a dead looking gardenia bush at our old church in Wilmington, so figured this might help.) The response from the nursery said not to trim, keep them watered, and wait to see if new leaves grew. I felt awful and gave Honey Crisp some reiki and prayers.

Well, after about a month, I saw new leaves on the Mac and tiny leaf buds on Honey. Then there were blossoms! Honey had a big bunch of leaves under where I had cut. My research confirmed David’s suggestion to pinch off the blossoms so that the trees would put more of their energy into roots and leaves rather than trying growing fruit at the end of the summer. I found it hard emotionally, but I pinched off the blossoms except a few I could not reach on Mac.

Honey Crisp with new leaves
Blossoms on MacIntosh

I did not want to spray the trees at all, but I will, if I see any infestations and will spray again and in the spring before the blossoms. I check on Honey every day and Mac whenever I go that way. Both trees seem to be doing well, so I am now cautiously optimistic.

Honey

You can see in the photo above that some of the branches on Honey do not have leaves, but the branch I trimmed has a cluster of leaves under where I cut.

Not long after I discovered new leaves growing on Honey, I noticed a dragonfly who liked to perch on top of her. I’m taking that as a good sign.

Our neighbor has a very healthy pear tree with abundant fruit loved by deer. He said he does not spray his pear tree, but that bugs love apple trees. I plan to share the neighbor’s pear tree and deer in my next Tree Love post.

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Thursday Tree Love is hosted by Parul Thakur.

For more tree love, visit Paru’s blog, Happiness and Food.


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Thursday Tree Love: Roots and Rocks

“Coincidence means only a connection that’s not seen. Roots meet underground.”

Charlotte Armstrong

You may have seen a couple of these photos in Saturday’s SoCS post about Pilot Mountain State Park near our home in North Carolina. I’m focusing on the roots for Thursday Tree Love. Being able to see embedded, live roots gives a glimpse to the vast underground world where trees connect in ways we can only imagine.

David, Marley, and roots in the distance

David and Marley waiting for me

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Thursday Tree Love is hosted by Parul Thakur.

For more tree love, visit Parul at Happiness and Food.


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SoCS: The Queen Rises to the Occasion

 Today’s prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is “starts with Q.” Think of a word that starts with the letter Q and write your post around it. Use it any way you’d like. Have fun!

The Queen did not respond immediately, but instead asked more questions. She listened, trying to focus. Oh how she longed for the quiet days by the lake. The days before her king went on his grand quest and left her in charge.

Was he ever coming back? Was he even still alive?

“Enough!”

She was annoyed with herself as much as the merchant standing in front of her. Annoyed because she had allowed her mind to wander. And the merchant cared only for money, not peace or fairness or beauty, or so it seemed.

An idea came to mind.

“Merchant, there is a widow who lives in your storehouse. I have been told that you make her work late into the night just to have meager shelter and crumbs from your bakery.”

“Yes, my queen. I have been generous. But what about my request to sell bread and pastries for your royal parties and visitors?”

“I already have a good baker here in the palace.”

“With respect, my queen, your baker is not as young as he once was, and my pastries have been said to be the finest in the land. Would not my queen deserve the finest?”

“Is it the widow who bakes your pastries?”

The merchant stammered. “Well, she and my son…”

“Your son, who just last week kicked the widow, causing her to fall in the street and spill her basket?”

The merchant’s eyes grew wide. “How do you know so much,” he whispered. He cleared his voice. “I mean my son would never do such a thing. Surely it was an accident. But the widow is slow, and I have many customers. He may have given her a little nudge of encouragement.”

“And I have many eyes and ears in the city,” the queen stated, then rose from her throne. “Merchant, I would like to meet this widow who helps to bake your pastries. Perhaps she might like to work at the palace.

~~~

Maybe I’m feeling medieval since working on this piece of art for at least two weeks. My plan was to do a mandala with a lot of green for my living room. The basic mandala tree turned out good, I think. It was not easy on the textured paper. Then the question was, what to do with the center. I wanted to keep it simple. I had no plan to add an angel, especially a warrior angel with a sword that turned into a dagger, but when angels insist on being included in my art, who am I to say no, after all angels have done for me.

Here are some of the stages of this work. The sketch was done months ago. The third photo has a piece of my mother’s jewelry in the center. Maybe I’ll print that one to frame. I’ve left out other manifestations of the angel figure which I reworked many times. At one point there were hints of my mother who was quite a prayer warrior. Maybe a warrior angel can be a good thing to have around.

~~~

For more streams and rules

hop on over to our host, Linda G. Hill

by clicking HERE.