by Perrin Stifel
As I walk around the garden here at home this November, I am reminded that the blooms on our dogwood trees each April have already beendecided. Missouri’s state tree is gorgeous in each season. Summer brings wonderful green leaves and shade. In autumn bright red berries appear and leaves turn yellow, orange, red and even purple. Winter snow seems to sit in the pockets of the twigs. But the most interesting thing to me is to see all the bracts (buds) now that will turn a brilliant white in Spring. Any dogwood anywhere is beautiful throughout the year, and you can now see the number of blooms a tree will have for a Spring treasure.
This reminds me of one of our family’s Christmas traditions: a treasure hunt! It begins with a search for pickle ornaments on our decorated tree. We have five green pickles now, and one even yodels! After gifts are opened, the four grandchildren must find all the pickles on the tree. Then they are given a clue leading to the last gift. This clue leads to another room, where a second clue is found, and the group moves on to another going all over the house. All the family searches together as a group until the last gift is found. No Grinch or Scrooge can spoil the fun and the joy of gift giving and receiving will occur. Yes, the treasure will be there waiting!
And Spring’s treasure will also be there waiting when the dogwood buds of November will blossom and turn bright white in April. Guaranteed!
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