on the thorns of a dilemma

about this time of year the mock orange (Poncirus trifoliata) should be blooming. but last fall i cut it down and hacked it into pieces with my lopper. it has killer thorns and you just can't do anything with that plant without getting yourself all scratched up. i burned some of the branches in the fire pit on saturday, which was a little foolhardy because it was windy out. my dad would have really chastised me about that.

i guess i was tired of it. i only planted it years ago because it reminded me of my childhood. we had one in the back yard, which my father kept restrained by careful pruning every year. but i didn't have that discipline, so mine was going crazy, getting too big. it frightened me.

so, with my father gone now, i had no reason to keep it.

here's the non-manipulated image.

ducks in brown

Forsythe Refuge, last November.