random thoughts – Day 1,597 – (Thursday) – tree talk

Cool bark.

In a rare weeknight event, I went out. It was the result of a series of small events that came together. First, there was a Facebook event in my queue, flagged as “interested” weeks ago. This morning I saw it, so it was planted in the back of my brain until I forgot about it in a day dominated by a whirlwind of work things that made my head feel like it had been hit with one of those falling Acme anvils in the old Roadrunner Wile E Coyote cartoons.

At 5:00, a reminder popped up about the event – Tree Identification Walk at Lowell Cemetery, one of America’s first garden cemeteries. There was enough time for me to get there, and also plenty of time to talk myself out of it. I went.

It was a pretty large crowd. We walked a little and stood a lot as we visited several trees. The guides from Lowell Parks & Conservation Trust talked about the different tree traits that help with identification. Characteristics included bark, whether the branches are opposing or alternating, the veins in the leaves, the shape of the leaves and type of edges (serrated or smooth) and several other things I forgot almost immediately.

Bee's nest in a tree.

It was a warm evening, and the trees we were admiring provided welcome shade of different types depending upon the tree and leaves. That is about all I remembered an hour after it was over because I didn't write anything down. Oh, and gingko trees look cool. Bonus content included seeing a sizeable bee's nest in a tree as we were wrapping up the walk. 

Luckily, I there was no tree quiz at the end of the leisurely and informative walk because I would have failed miserably. My intent was less about memorizing tree information and more about doing something other than sitting on my butt. Lowell Cemetery is gorgeous and I saw a few people I know, so it was a success.