new growth old growth
my eighty-one year old neighbor, bruce, knocked on the door today to give this gift. he had a 70 year old spruce tree in his yard that was leaning too far over the power lines and needed to be cut down. when the power company felled the tree, this bud-laden branch full of pollen was at the very top, and bruce thought of me. i wish i knew a better way than a photo to celebrate the tree’s beautiful final act of rebirth.

black spruce male pollen cones

turtle lake, shoreview, minnesota