Friday, June 3, 2011

Weeping

 
Willow weep for me, willow weep for me,
bend your branches green along the stream that runs to sea,
Listen to my plea, listen willow, and weep for me.


Weeping willow tree, weep in sympathy,
bend your branches down along the ground and cover me,
when the shadows fall, bend oh willow
and weep for me.
Ann Ronell


Every year I post weeping willow trees. And I like to post the words of this song along with them, it is one of my favorite ballads. This year the weeping cherry trees were beautiful, so I decided to post these. The weeping cherry trees are so graceful and beautiful, yet have a very sad history. They are native to Japan, where they are held in very high esteem. During world War ll, their blossoms were used to motivate the Japanese people. Japanese pilots would paint them on the sides of their planes before going on a suicide mission, and sometimes even take the branches with them. They symbolized the fleeting intensity of life. The falling cherry petals came to represent the sacrifice of the Japanese youth to honor the emperor. There is one who wept not just for the soldiers, but for each and every one of us. Ask the willows, they will tell you.


" And being in anguish, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground."   Luke 22:44


"By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down and wept, when we remembered Zion. Upon the willows in the midst of it we hung our harps."   Psalm 137

48 comments:

Annie Jeffries said...

Hi Ginny, I was intrigued by the one tree in particular. It looked like it was growing from the head of a very large grave. There is something decorative and white on the mound of dirt as well but I can't make out what it is. Help?

Jeanne said...

Wow! I've never seen a weeping cherry tree. Beautiful!

Kerrie said...

I've never seen a weeping willow tree. Stunning photos and Super Scripture!!! I hope you are feeling much better now. Have a great weekend!

Karin said...

I simply love those weeping, cascading branches on those trees! There is such an intense beauty for such a short time and then the green, every day kind of leaves take over, hopefully followed by yummy fruit - if not for people, then for the birds! Reminds me of life - the bloom of youth, the hopeful green of adults, the warm colors and fruit of our autumn years!

Betsy Banks Adams said...

As long as you are not WEEPING, Ginny, then I guess things are good..... I love Weeping Willows and Weeping Cherries....

I do have a question though... (I may have asked you this one before.) I've always heard that where there is one weeping willow tree, there is another one nearby. Is that right --or just an old wives' tale?????

Hugs,
Betsy

Nature Rambles said...

I've never seen Weeping Cherry trees. They are absolutely beautiful. And the story behind them is fascinating!

Reanaclaire said...

Hello Ginny, I have seen willow trees in some towns before but not as beautiful as these..
by the way, my blogger.com has some problem, it has not been updating my posts in most of the blogrolls.. hope it will be back to normal soon..

SquirrelQueen said...

The trees are gorgeous Ginny and I adore your header shot.

I didn't know that about the weeping cheery, that is very sad but also an interesting piece of history.

BTW, the tree my little squirrel friend is perched on is a Japanese Maple.

Lisa @ Two Bears Farm said...

They're so pretty. When I was growing up I always wished we lived somewhere with a weeping willow. Alas, we never did. I suppose we could plant one now though.

RoeH said...

So pretty. I've always just loved weeping willow trees and have always wanted one in a yard somewhere. I've heard they are really hard on plumbing. However never having had one, I really have no idea.

MadSnapper said...

i love weeping willows and have not seen a weeping cherry tree before. these are fantastic, the beauty of the willow but with flowers added. a sad story of the suicide bombers. beautiful verses you included also. i am so glad blog land can show us what the other places have, you have these we have palms and other exotic flowering trees, things we would not see unless we find them in blog land.

Anonymous said...

Love love love willow trees and have since childhood. We had a weeping willow when I grew up in Iowa. They aren't a blossoming willow though like those here in the more southern states. Gorgeous photos!

Di

Chatty Crone said...

Interesting history there girlfriend - as usual I learn something new every single day - and I think that is awesome - so thanks.

Loved your beautiful pictures - hope you are feeling better.

S. Etole said...

what an awesome sight ... and sad history

Dawning Inspiration said...

Weeping Willows are one of my favorite trees - I find them to be graceful in their flowing branches... so beautiful!

srp said...

Are these weeping willows or weeping cherry? We have one house in the neighborhood with a weeping willow and I have never seen any flowers on it.

DawnTreader said...

These are all gorgeous. We've had fantastic cherry blossom trees here too this spring. Not sure if some of them would be called weeping.

Anonymous said...

Hi Ginny, We were given a present of a Weeping Cherry and a Weeping Willow. Unfortunately the Cherry did not survive the transplantation but the Curly Willow did. Unfortunately for us, the new Beaver we have in our lake decided to eat the new Willow! Oh well. At least the stump of the chewed-up Willow is alive so I have hope it will grow back. That's nature for ya! : )
Have a wonderful day!

Tammy@Simple Southern Happiness said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Tammy@Simple Southern Happiness said...

note to self, do not post comment till you check spelling...



You are a wealth of knowledge, I like that...
I had no idea the info behind the tree. These are awesome photos and not to mention that gasper of a header photo... I did actually gasp when you blog page came up. Awesome!! we give our lord all the glory for creating this beauty and for our eyes and talent to be able to capture it.

We had a cherry tree for 20 years in the front yard, so fluffy beautiful but for some reason it did not make it. I so hated to cut that down. I see I have been missing a lot by not replacing it.

HOPE your day is good...

Ruth Hiebert said...

I had never before heard of a Weeping Cherry.These are gorgeous.

Neal said...

Those are gorgeous.

Glenda said...

Beautiful trees, Ginny! I've never seen or heard of a weeping cherry tree, but it's gorgeous. Seems like each tree has a story to tell!

Anonymous said...

An interesting post Ginny. There was a weeping cherry at our last house and it was always so pretty in early Spring. My sister's little boy who passed away when he was 3, has a weeping cherry tree planted near his grave in Indiana. They are very pretty blossoms, aren't they?

Hope you have had a good day.

Ann said...

I remember when I was a kid we had a weeping willow in our back yard. I loved that tree. I never saw a weeping cherry tree. That's so pretty.

Bobbie said...

Hi Ginny. I hope you had a good Saturday. What beautiful weeping willow trees... That's the first Cherry ones I've seen. I love weeping willow's. I didn't even know they existed. I guess I've learned something new once again..

Regina said...

I think I enlarged every one of these..they are so beautiful!! I was going to say..they are different as I don't recall a flowering weeping willow. What a sad story that captures "the fleeting intensity of life" Love the words and terrific scripture verses!

Anonymous said...

Hi Ginny, it's me again. Back here to answer your question on my blog...also to admire these wonderful trees!:)

Only the last picture is from a different tree and that one is blooming for the first time. The other two are the same. It's the angle that made the difference. The flowers are a little over two cms in length. I'm glad you asked. Some photos can give the wrong impression.

A quiet Sunday for us here...about to have lunch. Hope you have a great day!!

aspiritofsimplicity said...

We had a mini weeping cherry in an house we once lived in. It was very pretty but I think that the larger ones are so beautiful.

Nikki (Sarah) said...

these are amazingly beautiful and that peom....thinking about Japan and the devestation there and the tornado's in the states and so much pain everywhere....your post is heartfelt.

Linda M. said...

Hi Ginny, thanks for the visit and comment. I love weeping willow tress. YOur tree photos are beautiful! Linda

photowannabe said...

Beautiful pictures and verse Ginny. I didn't know the significence of the cherry blossom to the Japanese.

Joanne said...

What great picures. I have never heard that song before...any chance you might post it sometime? I would love to hear it. Isn't it amazing how these trees can invoke such a bitter sweet emotion? Great post. I hope you are saving all you picture in a portfolio of some sort. I bet you could be a photographer to a Magazine or even a Christian magazine Too! You have such an eye for detail and the beauty that is there. Blessings, Joanne

Tracy said...

Ginny, they are beautiful! absolutely gorgeous! I really didn't know there was such a thing as a weeping willow cherry! How pretty!
I appreciate the words that tell a story and verses...take good care my friend!

Doris Sturm said...

These weeping cherry trees are gorgeous! I have never seen those before - I never even knew they existed - what a magnificent display of blossoms...the best bouquet ever!

Hope you are doing well :-)

Peg said...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y2ngjCqyctE

LV said...

We have weeping willows around her, but nothing like these. I have never seen them in color. Absolutely breathtaking.

Ann, Chen Jie Xue ้™ˆๆด้›ช said...

I didn't know that willows flowers. I probably mistook a weeping willow to be a cherry tree.

Shug said...

Oh wow...what beauty! Beautiful picture as always...
so glad that I am finally getting the opportunity to catch up on my blog reading..It's raining here, so this is a nice evening to sit here, watch the Dallas Mavericks play Miami Heat and catch up with all my blogging friends...
Hope you're feeling much stronger now..
Have a wonderful evening...
shug

Regina said...

Well I'm checking up on you before I hit the sack..I sure hope your ok. I was driving home from a dinner this evening thinking about you and noticed you hadn't another post up. Anyway..(I'll be praying for you)
just me-

Remington said...

So pretty!

Melanie said...

Those pictures are beautiful, Ginny! I just love willow trees.
We have a regular willow tree in our backyard that we started a few years ago. It's grown so fast!
Have a great week. ♥

Stephanie V said...

Weeping willows are lovely and graceful. You need an awful lot of land - with a river running by - to support these huge trees. So I think they are ecoming rare in the cities. Good you can find a few.

Lynn said...

Ginny, I love your new header. The willow tree shots are so lovely. Thank you for the history on the weeping cherry trees. How sad. I have always thought the name "weeping willow" was wrong for such a beautiful tree.

Pat @ Mille Fiori Favoriti said...

I've always liked weeping willow trees. They look so graceful. You've taken so many wonderful photos of them!

Fred Alton said...

I love those trees! As a kid they made me feel like I had a ready made hide-out when playing "cowboys". I hid myself successfully in many a willow tree by running inside them and merely pulling a few limbs around me. Good memories!

Rose said...

They are so beautiful...did not know the history of them till now.

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