Name That Blossom

Name That Blossom
            “The plum blossoms are pretty well gone,” I said, looking inquisitively at a blossoming tree.
            “And they don’t look like plum blossoms,” my husband added.
            “Cherry blossoms are coming out in other parts of the park,” I said, with a tone of skepticism about whether these were a match.
            “These don’t look quite like cherry blossoms,” he said, confirming my doubt.
            I looked at the pale, delicate petals for another minute. An image from childhood memories struck me.
            “These look like the apple blossoms on the trees where I grew up,” I said. “Apple blossom” sounds so comforting and down-to-earth.
            “Crabapple trees!” my husband said with satisfaction, looking up from his phone where he confirmed the hallmark blossoming trees in San Francisco’s Shakespeare Garden.
            This is not the first time we’ve had this conversation about these very trees. It’s not that we’re losing our memory. We’re just lazy. Maybe it’s that we’re blessed with an overabundance of riches with flowering trees where we live.
            I do like knowing the names of trees and flowers, but it’s not all-important. Enjoying the plants and trees around me in the moment is enough. I can always look up names later.
            This week’s Hike Notes from the archives, Shakespeare Garden-Golden Gate Park, takes readers to a charming section of San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park featuring plants that appear in the works of William Shakespeare.
            Don’t worry if you can’t immediately pin down the name of a bird, flower or tree you see that fascinates you. Enjoy the moment and research it later. Keep putting one foot forward!
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This week’s hike from the archives:
Hike Notes 183: Shakespeare Garden-Golden Gate Park