An Early Spring on the Berea College Campus

I spent the last two weeks of March in the Bluegrass Region of Kentucky during a record breaking warm period with many temperatures in the mid eighties.  Spring erupted and faded into an early summer-like landscape by the time that I left.  During my travels with my camera, I stopped by the town of Berea several times and shot pictures on the college campus.

One thing quickly became very evident, and that was the  presence of many, many redbuds on campus. 

 I've been told by a botanist that C.canadensis, the Eastern Redbud that is a native of the eastern United States, has blooms lighter in color than the C. chinensis, the Chinese Redbud. 

  

The dogwoods against the redbud make a beautiful contrast.  Travelling home along I 64 east, I marveled at the beauty of these two trees and the dark green of the cedars that grew among them.

 I came across this cozy area with an inviting bench.

This is a close-up of the flower bed in the foreground of the previous picture.  

It's an unusual but striking combination of colors.

The ground in the shady areas under the trees looks like a light snow of
spring beauties.

I stopped at a building called the Appalachian Center to check out the displays.  Inside, I found a display of student artwork memorializing some of  the mountains in Appalachia that have been lost to mountain top removal for coal mining. It's so encouraging to see youthful activism for the environment.

These are some of the colorful tree blooms on March 15.

And another shot of the campus trees just a few days later on March 21.

No campus is complete with a few squirrels and this one has plenty.

On an earlier campus stroll on March 15, I saw this little building which I learned is sometimes called the cat house. Many college campuses have a problem with unwanted cats being dropped on the grounds, and Berea is no exception.  The cats live in this little structure, are adopted by locals when  possible, and are cared for by money supplied by the faculty and staff.

 

More flowers on campus

Looking across the street through Bradford Pear blossoms to College Square

 and the historic Boone Tavern.  This picture was taken on March 15, 2012. 

This is the hotel just six days later on March 21.  The eighty degree days 

have hastened the maturation of the leaves and the petals have
 fallen to the ground.

Across the street in front of the Boone Tavern, 

the Bradford Pear petals decorate the street.

An electric vehicle delivers pots of daffodils to be placed 

beside the shops of the crafters in College Square.  With 

the heat, these flowers only lasted about three days. 

A picture of some of the shops in the Square.

And one last peak at the flowers.