A Question of Character

The other day I was on my way to take my son to school. It was his fist day back in months and we were running a bit late, but I happened to notice at the side of the road some lovely Hawthorn bushes. One of these bushes' leaves were almost fully grown already, where her neighbours were only just starting to open their buds.  This reminded me of one of my favourite passages in Peter Wohlleben's wonderful book "The Hidden Life of Trees", where he recalls three Oaks which stand together near his home and describes their behaviour in Autumn:

"whereas the Oak on the right is already turning colour, the middle one and the one on the left are still completely green.  It takes a couple of weeks for the two laggards to follow their colleague in to hibernation.  But if their growing conditions are identical, what accounts for the difference in their behaviour?  The timing of leaf drop, it seems, really is a question of character."

I love the idea that trees have their own personalities and there is evidence of it everywhere you look!  Where as the early dropping tree is the more sensible of Wohlleben's bunch (avoiding early frost or unexpected high winds), perhaps my Hawthorn friend is the more optimistic of her gang about spring having sprung?

I'm sure I'm not alone, but I have been feeling a little strange lately about finally emerging from this enforced hibernation to which we have all been subjected.  The idea of being back out in the world again feels just a little bit scary?  Perhaps I should be taking a leaf from my optimistic Hawthorn's book and put my leaves out and hope for the best?