Birth of a Bloom

I love dogwoods.  I think I get that from Mama.   I remember when I was a kid how she used to fawn over the dogwoods each spring and talk about how they represent the cross.  I think it's lovely the way the blooms unfold and thrust their centers toward the sky.  They dance daintily on the branches, with all of those little blooms blending together to give the tree a bit of an Impressionist look from a distance.  In recent years though, I've come to appreciate the dogwood blooms in their earliest stages.  I just love them as they begin to burst open.  But then again, I love anything that does the dance of spring.