Two Months in the Life of an Ash Tree

The Ash trees have finally decided to burst out around here... well after the oak trees, so according to weather lore it shouldn't be a wet summer.. "if the ash be out before the oak, we're in for a soak; if the oak be out before the ash, we shall only have a splash"

It's taken about 2 months for the buds to grow into leaf. Here we are on 21st March...those black buds make the ash tree easily identifiable even without leaves.

Have you ever noticed ash flowers? By 13th April they were out....

...growing nicely by the 25th....
...by 1st May the flowers are gone, seeds beginning to form & the first leaves break out...

...last years seeds ('keys') are still on the tree. Some have fallen, but many remain until after the leaves come out...

...9th May, seeds are forming the familiar ash-keys that help them become airborne to spread themselves away from the parent tree to begin life on their own (does this sound like our own children?)...

...17th May, see how much they've sprouted!...

...24th May, leaves are lush & filling out nicely....
I sit on the fence under this tree regularly, leaning back against the trunk, looking out through the branches...
... today the words that floated in were... peace... initiation... initiating peace... I think that's the way we need to move forward through peaceful initiation of ideas rather than confrontation.