Tightly Closed

3/19/18 Tony's cherry tree, Beacon Hill neighborhood

My brother-in-law has a lovely old cherry growing in his yard on Beacon Hill. Whenever I visit, I admire its classic umbrella shape and knotty, gnarled trunk, but I never seem to catch it in bloom. He’s out of town right now, and I figured the cherry was fully flowered, so I went over there to surprise him with a sketch of the blossoms he’s missing. But the sad surprise was on me: Although a few spindly young cherries across the street were pink and fluffy, all the reddish buds on his tree were still very tightly closed – not a single blossom in sight.

Since I’d come across town to sketch it, I decided to do it anyway. Any time of year, its majestic shape is still beautiful.