Paper birch

Look, the trunks are white!

This was the first tree I planted, back in 2007. Kind of non-descript as a sapling, I was assured that at 4 or 5 years of age the brownish trunks would whiten. Now, I wouldn't want my teeth this shade of white, but I really like the way it stands out now. When the leaves fall off within the month, this tree --visible from the kitchen window--will offer some interest to a somewhat drab area of the yard.



Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Powered by ShowMeBlogger.com

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Revisiting the great state-border-crossing challenge

Image
When I posted this at the beginning of 2020, the pandemic hadn't cut into any travel plans and I hadn't really identified paths to getting to the last bunch of state border crossings I needed. However, after crossing a few more in the last year, being close but not too close to a few others I was missing, and especially talking to more folks interested in this idea, well, the quest has gained some traction. One of the things that remains both fun and frustrating about this venture is how recently it came into my consciousness. Decades of road tripping led me so close to some of these state borders I'm still missing. If I had any inkling this would be something I'd end up pursuing, at least another half dozen crossings would have been completed. But it's also a reason to go back to some of these areas, which works well with other travel goals. After all, I keep finding more things to do in many states—NPS sites, ballparks, breweries, etc.—so I know I'll be plann
Read more

New York counties, and then some

Image
 <I wrote this while on a flight to Chicago around this time last year, and just noticed it in my drafts much closer to finished than I recalled... 😀> At the start of 2021, one of my two posts was about my progress for reaching every corner of New York: I had set the goal of doing something in each of the state’s 62 counties. By "something", I meant an NPS site, a state park, a sporting event, a brewery or something else (for me, "something else" included the Corning Museum of Glass, the Baseball Hall of Fame, Howe Caverns, county fairs, etc.). At the time, 55 of them could be considered done. Since I had updated my other post of early 2021 early in 2022—the great state border challenge—it seemed appropriate to update my New York county post too, especially since it's now two years since I've completed that quest. Yes, I went 62 for 62 in June of 2021, when my quest was completed with a state park and brewery in Chautauqua, the state’s westernmost c
Read more

Tipping and ripping the cap

A belated tip of the cap to this year’s Baseball Hall of Fame inductees. I know the NFL and NBA Halls had their 2010 inductions more recently, and an eventual nodding of the helmets to the former may follow. It’s just that a recent conversation prompted this post. In this era of free agency, the need for players to don one team’s cap over another when their plaque is created seems to be something of a relic, especially when a player has left an indelible mark on multiple teams. Even if the bulk of his career or prime numbers rest mainly with one team, should that team be solely associated with that player when he gave another some great years? Conversely, if, say, a contract or personal quarrel leaves bad blood between a player and the team where his HOF numbers were earned, should that player have the right to select some team where he had less impact? Admittedly, most inductees do lean to one team or another in terms of career dominance, and Wikipedia, under the "Players with mu
Read more