Circle of Life

I took this picture Monday morning.

The sky was a perfect shade of blue with a couple fluffy clouds to add variety.

The flowers on the crab apple tree were at their peak.

Mind you, I didn't know that then.

Just a day or two later, most of the flowers were gone. Washed or blown away by the passing storms.  By Friday, there were thousands of petals on the ground around the tree trunks and almost none on the tree.

It won't be long until the Cedar Wax Wings show up to finish off the withered and fermented crab apples that survived the long winter clinging to their branch offices.  The birds will clean up the fruit within a week.

Little flowers like these are so delicate, it's like they are here one moment and gone the next.  It took weeks for the buds to form.  Then the right combination of warmth and moisture for them to open. Add more rain and some wind and that's all folks!

Yet it won't be that long, a few months, before the faded flowers achieve their purpose - growing into crab apples.  They will feed the birds of the air and small creatures.  It's possible some might find their way into jellies or other home made creations.

Each event in its own time is but a blip.  From May to May, it's another illustration of the circle of life.