Today's happiness consists of getting the household chores done in a timely manner. Yay me!
I also learned that we have a tree in the backyard called a hackberry tree. I had never heard of this tree before.
A hackberry (Celtis occidentalis or Celtis laevigata) is actually a very common native tree in Virginia. The hackberry is one of those quiet, overlooked native trees that people can live beside for decades without ever learning its name. Its leaves resemble an elm, but the bark is rough, warty, and full of quirky bumps.
Most years it goes unnoticed, yet every so often it surprises you with small purple berries that deer and birds devour before anyone else gets a chance to see them. It’s a tough, weather‑resilient tree that thrives in Virginia without asking for attention, content to simply stand there and get on with the business of being a tree.
We have lived in this house for almost 40 years and this is the first time we've ever seen purple berries come off of this tree. The deer have been eating them up for days.
There was a tree in our front yard next to the driveway. It had little purple buds in spring/summer. No one knew for sure what it was. Once a guy even drove up our driveway, took a picture of it, and asked my dad what it was. My mom loved it, even though it never grew very tall or developed a substantial trunk. Anyway, after my mom died, the new owners moved the driveway and in doing so got rid of the tree. Do plants go to heaven? If so, I hope my mom got her tree back.
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