Thinking about Normandy...and apple blossom time

We had to make another trip to Ashland today for another eye exam.  On the way we listened to some of the NPR coverage of the events over in Normandy in France today on the 70th anniversary of the Normandy Invasion.  I had the opportunity to visit those historic beaches several years ago and it's so incredible to think of what those troops must have gone through that day.  And then they had to face the next day!

I remembered that I had a Stephen Ambrose book on my iPad, Citizen Soldiers, detailing the coverage of the war from D-Day to the Battle of the Bulge.  Since I had some waiting room time today, I started reading that book and I learned that what they ran into the next day was almost as bad.

That part of France used "hedgerows" to delineate their fields and property.  Hedgerows are high and wide barriers of earth with trees and vegetation growing on top of them.  The Germans had been located there for several months so they knew how to negotiate them, but American intelligence had only seen them in aerial pictures and didn't know that were as high and daunting as they turned out to be.  They were like mazes for American troops and equipment so they had to spend some precious time figuring out how to get themselves, huge tanks and things through the hedgerows and not become victims of them and targets of the Germans waiting for them.

More information for how they navigated in and around hedgerows - http://www.lonesentry.com/normandy_lessons/

Don't know why, but this stuff fascinates me.

We got home this evening in time to get up into the meadow to take pictures of the apple trees.  I was afraid it would start raining before we got home, but we made it.  Rain is hard on apple blossoms!

So I was still thinking about the Normandy book, then thinking apple blossoms, and next thing I know  I'm hearing the Andrews Sisters in my head singing, "I'll be with you in apple blossom time,"--on the hit parade in the '40's, I'm sure!

And now here are some pictures from our meadow and our "wild" apple trees growing up there.  It's so pretty up there.  Too bad the mosquitoes like it up there too!

Tomorrow - some pictures from our "tame" orchard!