Now remember if a daily #TreeSquare sounds daunting, it is okay to join weekly or even just pop in occasionally with your trees. The frequency and content of your squares entirely depends on you and your blog. The only absolute rule for joining in with Squares is that your photograph must be square in shape!
Becky B.
In this month’s square’s challenge I will start at home and spiral farther and farther from our current home in Prescott, AZ to share different tree species in my travels. Since trees count for FOTD, all of these posts will work for both Becky B’s Squares and Cee’s Flower of the Day, #FOTD.
Mission Trees
I taught fourth grade which is the year students study California history. Since I hadn’t grown up in California, I wanted to visit all the missions to help me understand California history. Located in Solvang, CA, many species of trees beautify Mission Santa Inés. Unfortunately, I can’t tell you all the names of the trees pictured here. There are some palms. See how many you can name.
Coming Up
I’m back at Writer’s Quotes Wednesdays at 9:00 am today with a new topic of Exploration. Thank you Terri for hosting last week.
I’m so excited to announce that Cathy Cade will be hosting her friend Wendy Fletcher for August Story Chat. Wendy Fletcher is the leader of Cathy’s u3a writing group. For more information about Story Chat and how you can contribute, see my Story Chat page. Don’t forget that Gary A. Wilson’s story, “Sometimes a Miracle” is still open for comments.
The Photographing Public Art Challenge (PPAC) is already coming up on our fifth post right here on my blog at 9:00 am on Friday. I can’t believe it’s been over a month! Thank you all for your many interesting responses. It’s been fun to travel all over the world through your posts. Please post on Cee’s blog until Friday.
Thanks for joining me today. What’s in your #TreeSquare? See you tomorrow?
Marsha Ingrao - Always Write 
30 responses to “#TreeSquare 14: Trees of Mission Santa Inés”
beautiful trees, and clearly you were an inspiring teacher
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I tried. 🙂 Thanks, Becky. 🙂
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Wonderfully pretty trees 😀 😀
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Thanks, I came across these in my long lost Passport Drive from 2008.
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That’s very true. We can admire the mission churches’ beauty and tranquillity, but there’s a darker side to them.
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Sorry, posted my reply in the wrong point in the thread but you know what I mean I am sure 🙂
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No worries. 🙂 Who doesn’t do that from time to time???
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Yes, I tend to take things at face value, but there is always a deeper story. Like your North Korean posts. It’s not all Saturday Evening Post material, but it looks great on the surface. And in fact all countries are like that to an extent and they are constantly repackaging themselves to the world and making changes to gain acceptance. Look at all that Germany has done since the Holocaust. It’s a constant thing. Evil regimes can’t remain forever. They have to make some changes.
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You’re right, all countries package and repackage themselves to some extent. The difference between us and North Korea is that in most countries most people are aware of that, at least subconsciously, whereas in North Korea the vast majority of the population has no idea that is the case. They have no knowledge of how things are elsewhere and therefore no knowledge of the unnatural degree to which all aspects of their lives are controlled by the regime. Or at least, they know that the regime controls their lives but they believe a) that they do so with their best interests at heart, and b) (most of them at least) that this is a perfectly normal and acceptable way to run a country.
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It is a more efficient way, for sure. Democracy is messy and trusts the public. Even the United States founders did not entirely trust the public. The Whiskey Rebellion was evidence of that. It is still the best, in my opinion, but like the North Koreans, I have never lived in any other way.
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This looks a beautiful tranquil spot 🙂
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It is now. I imagine that in the day, there must have been a bit of clashing as the two cultures met for the first time. I can’t imagine how the native Americans must have reacted when this group came in and started erecting churches and planting orchards and manicuring the lawn with their labors. Some of them must have submitted peacefully, in fact most of them or the Spaniards would not have succeeded. Many were killed by diseases, and some escaped. But I imagine how I would have felt with someone taking over my home.
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did you get to all the missions?
and I can name a couple of the trees – I saw a big one, and a green one…
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I missed a few of the outliers, but only a couple in the northern part of the state. It was a fun and doable project. I loved teaching fourth grade history, probably because I learned so much and it was a colorful history of a colorful state.
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I wish I had paid more attention to history when I was in school; I was more of a math guy. I’ve grown to appreciate history much more…
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I hated history in school. It was too hard to memorize dates. I was more of a math person, too.
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then teaching was a great way to learnmore about history…
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It was for me, too. Being a county history consultant taught me a lot of history, too.
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when you have a chance to immerse yourself in something, it’s a great opportunity for learning…
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It true, you get to hang around experts all the time. and just imbibe. 🙂
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hen you get to hang out in nature all day and just soak it in..
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It was a wonderful experience. A dream come true. 🙂
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that’s quite an endorsement!
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I loved teaching. I think it is much harder now since COVID.
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I can’t iamgine trying to teach younger children over ZOOM. with college students it was ok, and for some things, better than doing it in person…
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It was very hard for my friends who are still teaching. One friend told her student he had to get out of bed and get dressed. It was after 9:00 and he was at school! (by Zoom!) Middle school.
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I had a few students I could tell were laying in bed while in my Zoom classes as well…
It doesn’t make for an effective learning experience!
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As a teacher I relied in part on the reactions and interactions between students. That would have killed my enthusiasm.
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I seem to put jsut as many students to sleep, whether it was in person, or live over Zoom. Perhaps that’s why some of my students would sign in from bed. Why fight the ineveitable? 🙂
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lol!!
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