Snowy Dogwoods • April 8, 2005
(click in the image to se a larger version)
Today is Tuesday and this particular Tuesday marks the return of Time Machine Tuesday. On these occasional forays into the past I try to chose an image from either the same date, or around the same time of year from at last one year in the past (and bonus points for myself if I find one from more than 10 years ago!). For this week I did pretty good on that; today's image is from April 8th, 2005...almost eleven years ago to the day.
Early April this year could not be more different! Today, like eleven years ago, the dogwoods in the yard are blooming, but instead of cold and snow, we have a beautiful Spring day with temperatures well above normal. As I write this late in the afternoon, it is currently 75˚, and tomorrow's high is supposed to hit 84˚. Shirt sleeve and shorts weather here in the Sierra foothills. Really and truly! If my work schedule allowed for it, I could even lie out and probably get a start on my summer tan. Of course, weather in the mountains and foothills in the spring can be fickle, and by Friday, the high temperature is forecast to be 25 degrees cooler than tomorrow's high.
Another thing that is different now is that this dogwood tree, sadly, no longer exists (apart from a low stump on the lawn). It developed some form of blight or other tree sickness and the arborists we consulted said that little could be done. It was cut down and the wood from it eventually warmed us on subsequent winters when we burned it on our wood-burning stove. We've since planted other dogwoods, but I do miss its cheerful rosy blossoms.
This particular image was eventually licensed as the cover for a textbook on the Principles of Organic Chemistry (somewhere I have a copy, but I cannot find it now to include a photo of it). I'm guessing that the organic chemists out there might understand the visual metaphor for why this particular photo would work as the cover photo for such a textbook. Or maybe the book designers just wanted a pretty picture.
In any case, while searching for other photos for another project I am working on, I came upon this image and since the date was perfect for a Time Machine Tuesday entry, I figured it must be a sign and so I went with it.
I hope that your Tuesday has been a good one!
