Colors of Spring, the Flowers and Trees of Haddonfield, March and April 2020

It was early March, 2020, when, as a response to the coronavirus pandemic, it was decided that out of an abundance of caution we would engage in social distancing. With that in mind, we moved our offices home and became hermits in our own house. It’s a new life for us and for all of America. JoAnn and I have been handling it pretty well; we keep occupied Monday through Friday, getting up at our regular times and “going to our offices” to work. It helps to keep us sane and, more importantly, out of each other’s way.

We are both busy and the time flies by; my office is cloud based and our telephones are VOIP (voice over internet). Our team members are all comfortable working in their home environments and, to be honest I think I get more done here without all the distractions of the office. The best part of my day is when I “close up shop,” walk downstairs and announce, “honey, I’m home.”

Daily, at the noon hour and again around 5pm, weather permitting, we try to get out for a walk. We shake the cobwebs from our brains and exercise our bodies. We move along for at least a half an hour, longer when we can, and cover at least 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 miles.

The streets are deserted; I’ve never seen anything like it. We pass occasional walkers and see bicyclists from time to time. There is almost no traffic on the roads. It’s really eerie. Here is a shot of Haddon Avenue, usually one of the town’s busiest streets.

As we stroll, I frequently stop to take a photo or two of colorful flowers and trees in bloom or on the verge of exploding with leaves. I thought you would enjoy a selection of our colors of spring.

What follows are a few random thoughts and a lot of photos of flowers and trees. If I know the flower I will identify it but some are a mystery to me. That doesn’t take away from the beauty of nature; it just means I don’t know its name.

Let’s start with something simple, a couple of crocus.

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A tree trunk.

The gracefulness of a weeping cherry tree.

A rafter of turkeys is a pleasant surprise ( I looked up “what is a flock of turkeys called” and Google said it’s a “rafter”). They were peacefully grazing on a school soccer field. I occasionally see them strutting around town as if they own the place without a care in the world. Interesting to find them in a town of 13,000 in Southern New Jersey.

Each and every street, avenue and lane has something beautiful from Mother Nature. Here is a sample.

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Fields of wild flowers are just around the corner.

Even a row of trees, waiting for their leaves to burst forth, are interesting and lovely. I think there is a certain serenity to these big, old fellows standing as sentinel’s by the street.

I love the rich, deep color of these little flowers.

Walking through the park I came upon this weeping willow with its branches blowing gently in the breeze . . .

. . . and I like the view presented by this willow and its brethren as they framed a flowering tree growing by the edge of a small creek.

A white bloom, past its prime, at the end of a tree branch with the creek in the background.

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A solitary bench and a few yellow tulips. Perhaps, a place for reflection?

A neighbor’s dogwood.

Some daffodils.

A spot of purple floating on a sea of green.

Pale pink.

Purple on a wall of slate.

A simple bud at the end of a branch.

Blooms of Easter.

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Cherry blossom petals in the shadows.

Some random shots.

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Not every garden has flowers.

Good night silent Haddonfield.