Study in starkness 

Closing soon: one of the most beautiful outdoor art exhibits of this (or any) year.

You could call it, “Beauty in the Barren Times.”
Or you could just look up, and take in the treetops before their leaves obscure the view.

Every year when those leaves fall, branches, twigs and trunks stretch across the canvas of the sky, like massive pen and ink drawings.
On a walk home from work last week, I noticed the palest of green creeping in, a sign of changes — and colors — to come.

I started checking our backyard maple every morning. Day by day, the once bare branches filled with deep red buds.

Today we passed cherries and Bradford pears already puffed out in pink and white.

Watching it all unfold is such a lovely rite of spring, but I always remember the barren beauty.

The show’s almost over. Don’t miss it.