Rhody show
Rhododendron blossoms
Instead of doing the usual route this morning, I rolled out of bed early and drove to a trailhead about 15 minutes away—a trail that would lead me through the Rhododendron forest that flourishes in the Long and Ell Ponds Natural Area in Hopkinton, Rhode Island. This has been one of my favorite walking spots over the years, and I wanted to get there today to take in what I was pretty sure would be a genuine spectacle: the "Rhodies"—the local name for members of the Rhododendron maximum clan—in full and exquisite bloom. It wasn't wall-to-wall flowers in the evergreen thickets, but there were enough blossom clusters to delight the observer. The local bees, to say nothing of the local photographer, was more than pleased, too.