Looking at a map, I can hardly believe that I would have ever found this astonishingly beautiful scene where it was, a mere twelve miles as the crow flies from the heart of Washington, D.C. A great many things need to come together to make such a thing possible. I have two very different versions of this scene on the site, the other being titled Mist on the Potomac, Fort Washington, Maryland. They were made a day apart, in early April. The tree is of the Amelanchier genus, also referred to as shadbush, shadwood or shadblow, among several other common names. It had been lovingly preserved from pruning away by my friend Janet Andersen, luckily for me. The view is from the Andersen home of the time. Across the water is Fort Washington National Park, preserved to commemorate the fort which we built there to keep the British forces away from our new capitol during the war of 1812. You might say it worked, inasmuch as our old enemy decided to take a more circuitous route, so that they might yet burn down the White House. Thank goodness the British have long since gotten over their displeasure with our desire for nationhood.