I wanted to capture the release of the cottonwood fuzz
in Calgary. This is a yearly event although it is not as
common as it used to be. Cottonwood were planted
as a hardy tree along city streets. As other varieties
became available the city began to discourage planting
cottonwoods they are messy, not long lived and they
drop a lot of limbs in the wind storms. I was raised
near the Lake Erie where in the summer you sometimes
get drifts of Fish Flies or May Flies so this seems
fairly harmless and a lot less smelly.
Even though it is not snowing I thought a quote
from Frozen Fire by Floris Clark McLaren
1937 would work besides I just got my copy
in the mail today and wanted to use it.
" Against the blue of spruces, and the grey
Of bare-boughed poplar suddenly
As though a snowdrift burst in
scattering fragments."
Frozen Fire
Floris Clark McLaren