December Photo Project 2012 -- Day Twenty-Two

My son Iain's new apartment is only a block or so from the Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University, so today when we visited, we took his two doggies for a walk in a brisk wind to the Arboretum. I was so happy to see that he lived so close. Although right now it is pretty bleak, it was easy to see how wonderful it would be to have such a great resource so close by in the spring and summer.

We walked to the top of Peters Hill at the Arboretum, where there is a great view of Boston. I took some photos of the view thinking they might make an interesting photo of the day. But then I noticed a honey locust tree nearby.

I didn't know that was what it was, but it sure drew my attention. I found the name of it on the tag. You can read about the honey locust tree here. You can see Iain, Nigel, Lily and Stewart, out of focus, standing between the two trunks of the tree. I sure wouldn't want to lose my balance and fall against this tree! I tried to get a picture of some of the thorns on the branches, but couldn't get my camera to focus properly. I read in the Wikipedia article that the thorns have been used in the past as nails. I can well believe it!