Evans’ Rag

Vol 8 Issue 3

Cherry tree on schedule – photo by Author, © 2026

A few years past we took note of a volunteer tree growing at the foot of the slope by the street. It took off like a weed. To our surprise, we had a cherry tree. And now a second one closer to the street is coming up alongside the forsythia. After the winter we had, seeing these early spring arrivals raises the spirits of even we winter-loving curmudgeons. However, I have mixed feelings about these–seems the species has been declared invasive in Arlington County and the City of Alexandria. We live a mile or so outside Arlington and not too much further from Alexandria.

Arlington didn’t start to develop until Washington was flooded by the growing Federal government before World War II—before that, Rosslyn was a string of pawn shops and questionable enterprises on the hills across from Georgetown. If you know your history, Alexandra’s Christ’s Church was where George Washington prayed. .

Not much to go on, other than these cherry trees are fast growing—and are said to produce berries. They are propagated by birds, so presumably we’ll see berries at some point. Meanwhile, I took some practice shots with the Nikon.

I’m of two minds regarding ‘invasive’ plant species. Snakeheads no—sweet cherry trees yes. We have a small committee of anti-invasives living in Lake Barcroft. Their motives are well intending, but it seems like they’re overlooking how massively disrupting our own species has been to our blue ball in space.

Isaac Asimov’s Hari Seldon may well have missed the point as well.

Closeup of our sweet cherry - Prunus Avium – photo by Author, © 2026

Sally in Paris, the book’s out, and I’m doing my best to promote it. Though not being a marketing kinda guy, it’s not likely to hit the Times’ best seller list. Having said that, this month’s Medium story finally got written.

I still need readers, so if your email works, let me know.