Sunshine and Strong Growth

Good morning and Happy Easter! 

It's a glorious day here in the Washington, DC, area.  Spring has had a difficult time rolling in, with way too many gray and cold days and a few random really hot day (ie. 89 degrees Fahrenheit one day last week).  It's really nice to finally have blue skies, listen to the birds chirp, and soak in the sun's glow.

Also happy are the plants.  Unlike me, they have probably loved all the rain and cooler temperatures we've been getting.  The Lilac bushes out front have bloomed and are sending out their gentle bouquet.

In the back yard, our Dogwood tree is looking very snowy in the sunlight  with too many blooms to count.  This beautiful tree was such a shy, sad tree without much show when we first moved into this house.  In 2001, there were literally three blooms to count on the tree while it stood taller than me.  The following year, it was not much better.

What happened from then to now?  Well, in 2003, hurricane Isabel rolled through here and created havoc with many larger trees in the yard.  As a result, we had to have five trees removed around the house.  One of those was a humongous Huckleberry tree which stood towering above this little guy, our deck, and much of the yard.  The Huckleberry tree also created a mess each year.  I'm sure that the birds loved the fruit, but my goodness if those berries didn't stain anything they touched and perhaps provided a bit too much shade for the yard.

After removing the giant of the yard, this little guy was able to get some sunlight. Now there are too many blooms to count.  Isn't it gorgeous?  The Dogwood just needed to have some light shined upon it in order to grow and become strong. 

Sometimes we have have to step out of the shadows and let the light shine upon our faces so that we can become what we were meant to be.