Thursday, May 3, 2012

A Walk in the Park

I walked to the mailbox this morning, taking a shortcut thrugh the park.  There has been no sign of snow for a week now and things are rapidly greening up.  I seemed to be the only one out today.  The park/playground/soccer field was empty...a bit wet from the early morning rain.  The day is cloudy and windy, but lovely just the same.  I just had my phone with me so the pictures aren't as good as they should be.

An easy walk on paved paths

With conveniently placed benches for resting on.

This is a close up of the tree in the bench picture above.
I love all it's branches, perfect for climbing on.

It looked winter dead but I spotted some new green growth.

Then there was this stand of dead pine trees.

Pretty sad looking.  I wondered why they hadn't been cut down.


Then I walked closer and saw beautiful new green growth,
as well as the pretty little pink baby pine cones.  I had never
seen them before - it was a pleasant surprise.


Lots of new growth that had just been waiting for a few sunny days to show itself

A life lesson maybe?  What appears from a distance to be
used up and dead, upon closer notice is just bursting with life.
And here's one of the main reasons the grandkids like coming to
Grammy and Papa's house - the great playground just across the street.
The grass in the park still looks pretty faded and sparce but it'll come to life very quickly now that it's not covered with snow.  It looks like spring has finally come to Alberta.

10 comments:

Ellie said...

What a lovely place to take a walk. Looks lovely and tidy.

Bev said...

Don't you love those signs of spring... like your blue sky... it's been so dull here...it seems like forever... I am still so cold.... looks like it's going to warm up!!

RoeH said...

Looks wonderful! It's getting hot here.

Southhamsdarling said...

Loved your comment on that tree - perfect to climb on. Don't tell me you had a sneaky climb up there when no-one was looking! LOL!! Looks like a lovely little walk, and it will look lovely once all the leaves are on the trees. Wow! Those little pink pine cones. I've never seen that before.

Granny Annie said...

I wish I could take such good pictures with my cell phone. Lovely park and so neat to have a paved sidewalk to enjoy instead of slopping through wet grass.

Many of the trees on our property are dead because of last year's drought. We have not cut them down because we are awaiting someone who wants the firewood. The will cut the tree and chop the wood. It is not an easy job to dispose of dead trees.

JQ said...

Mum, those are larch trees. They're pine-like trees that shed their needles every Fall and grow new ones in the spring. They're also known as tamaracks and they're native to this area. Not my faves.

TARYTERRE said...

Looks like spring is coming around there finally. ENJOY! Loved seeing all the trees but that photo of the sidewalk twisting and turning has me all a flutter. LOVED it.

Pat MacKenzie said...

Thanks Jenn. Any tree with green needles on it is a pine to me. I rely on you to correct my mistakes here (that's not said in a sarcastic tone!). I still love the little pink baby 'pine' cones though.

Magpie said...

Such a lovely walk to the mailbox. Wish mine was this pretty.

Haf Dozen Reasons....... said...

Thats a beautiful walk!!
Glad to hear spring has finally arrived for you!!