apple blossoms in bloom

The town we live closest to is named "the apple capital" of Nova Scotia. As a result, we have an abundance of orchards around us and over the past couple of weeks, the apple blossoms in all of our nearby orchards have been in bloom. 

It's quite a spectacular sight - rows and rows of trees completely covered in soft pink and white blooms. Even more beautiful, is actually stopping to walk through an orchard in bloom. It's like a sea of petals that cling to the branches in some inexplicable way, so fragile and delicate. It's a wonder the slightest breeze doesn't carry them off. Their scent is subtle, but sweet. And the sound? At first you hear it before you see them, this low humming that fades in and out. As you look closer, you begin to see them - the bees, hovering, then dancing from one blossom to another, never stopping, always searching.

The blooming of the fruit trees, like so many other early blooms, is short and fleeting. It's something that I look forward to from the first signs of the trees come back to life. It's when everything seems to come back to life. Worthy enough a sight that I'll risk trespassing just to walk up and down the rows, taking them in, knowing in a day or two, or after the next heavy ran, or breezy day, they'll all be gone. Luckily, I have yet to meet a farmer who wasn't friendly enough to grant me the pleasure.

And as this is our first spring in our new home, and after so much had already faded by the time we purchased our property in the fall, it was the first time we were really able to see what was growing.

To my delight, there are two large, unruly apple trees down at the river's edge. Their branches are covered in lichen, gnarled and wild. Despite their age, beautiful blossoms covered them once more this spring.

Planting fruit trees is on our list of projects to do over the next few years, but not something that we will tackle any time soon, so I was thrilled to know that we had some already established.

Walking through the orchards was lovely, but this year, seeing my own white blossoms was something that brought me joy every time I looked out my kitchen windows.