Confirmed !

A month or so ago while on one of my rambles through the woods & trails, I spotted a gnarly-looking tree with the immediate thought being "hey! that's an apple tree!".....of course, with it being early spring full of mud and assorted snow covering much of the ground beneath the trees including any water-filled ditches, it was not possible to get closer to check it out. So I made a mental note to myself to come back when the landscape started to bud out. We had already found one old apple tree beside the trail several years back, and knew the deer frequented that spot as well -- for that matter, it is not unusual to see deer tracks through much of this trail, and several spots seem to be the main "runs" if you will. In any case, the rain finally let up long enough for the sun to emerge and dry things up a bit, so off I went down the trail....yes, I can still see a little ways into the woods, but not for much longer. The understory of the forest has come to life in a big way, such that a stream I could see from my kitchen window has already disappeared from view, and seeing much on the ground level is not easy either, so the eyes go up and see what the canopy and under-canopy have in them. My gnarly tree is all decked out in its white/pink glory of blossoms...yes! it is an apple tree !

I am thinking I may have to go a bit further afield and see if I can find any more such surprises...we know the house we live in has been here for quite some time -- my neighbor gave us a picture of it when it was a farmhouse at the turn of the century (1900), and with all the various moss-covered stone walls that are to be found in the middle of the woods it is easy to see how much things have changed. It would not have been an uncommon thing for a farm to have fruit trees, or for that matter that people or birds and or have probably done their share of dropping seeds over the years as well. So, my mission, should I choose to accept it, is to follow some of these stone wall boundaries and see if there are more apple trees to be found.......and, no, this will not self-destruct in 5 seconds...lol....until the next time, when this intrepid wanderer will say.............