Well, no one can call me a know-it-all.

The picture on the front page of last week’s Robesonian was not a dogwood tree; it was a Bradford pear tree.

That’s something I probably should have known, since several years ago I actually had a very small orchard of Bradford pear trees. The blossoms in the spring were very appealing. In fact, Katie, my little sister who lives with us here in Lumberton, likes to see the “popcorn popping” on the flowering trees in the spring.

My small collection of trees were fruit bearing; the tree on Saturday’s front page, were not.

That’s been a few years and a couple of moves ago. And, since I’m still a relative new-comer to Robeson County, the tree I shot a picture of last week was much more majestic than the pitiful little pear trees I took care of years ago.

And, I had just finished compiling that week’s History Column that included a fun fact about dogwood blossoms being North Carolina’s state flower. So, I had dogwood trees on my mind,

I offer my apologies to local arborists, tree lovers and especially the majestic (majestic?) Bradford pear trees and tree lovers out there.

More about trees… In my youth my family would often take day trips to some mountain property we owned in the southern Rockies west of Colorado springs. As is common with land owners, we came up with a name for our tiny bit of land: “Rock In the Mud.” I know. Here’s how we came up with that: During our brainstorming session all the Kennard kids started throwing out ideas. I suggested “Sherwood Forest” ironically because we had six mature Ponderosa pines already alive and growing strong. Katie, still very young at the time, somehow heard “Rock In the Mud.” And it stuck.

My dad, who was once hospitalized after a battle with a maple tree (a story for another time), thought it was important to reforest our barren “Rock in the Mud” with baby Ponderosa pines – native to that area. For several years, he’d drag the whole Kennard clan up to the Colorado high country to plant and water our little growing forest.

In fact, my recent Google Earth search shows that of the 500-ish trees we planted, our dream of reforestation yielded maybe seven additional growing trees.

As a young couple, my wife and I loved exploring — especially exploring our nation’s national parks. We are nowhere close to visiting all our parks, but we’ve bagged quite a few; The Grand Canyon in Arizona, Zion, CanyonLands and Bryce Canyon, all in Utah, Yellowstone NP of course, Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Parks in California, home of the General Sherman Tree, the largest tree by mass on the planet – which our kids still fondly call the German Shepherd Tree.

And, Great Smoky Mountain National Park. I had been there as a 17-year-old kid with the Student Conservation Association. I returned last summer to see if after 40-plus years any of my team’s work did any good. I’m not sure. Great Smoky Mountain NP stands as the third most visited property in the National Park system, so I’m glad to know I did my part to make it nice.

In the aftermath of 2016’s Hurricane Matthew that barreled through the Carolinas, I volunteered in a cleanup crew tasked with removing downed or dangerous trees. Also, while living in the Charleston area, I frequently accompanied the local Arbor Day group working to replace trees in local parks and other wooded areas.

And, I can’t ignore the wonderful live oak trees so connected to the South. Google “Angel Oak”: and you will see what I’m talking about.

So, getting back to my disparaging of the wonderful Bradford pear trees… I love trees; deciduous and coniferous. Maples, oaks, pines, dogwoods and even the Bradford pear trees.