Over Memorial Day Weekend my daughters and two of their friends decided to go for a hike in the woods. This hike takes you to the 6th largest tree in the world--a giant sequoia. The giant sequoia is impressive, but I enjoyed seeing the dogwood trees. They were in bloom. I always thought they were so interesting in among the tall conifers, their large white blossoms showing against the dark green of all the surrounding trees.

The name "dogwood" actually came from "dagwood" which comes from "dags" (daggers) or "skewers" which were made of very hard wood. The wood was also used for shuttles on looms and for tool handles which required very hard, strong wood.

I found out from my research that there is a legend of the dogwood, that it was the tree from which Christ's cross was constructed. God had pity on the tree and made it bloom with white flowers that resembled the cross. In the center of the flower is a reddish center symbolizing the blood of Christ. God transformed the once large tree into a small tree with a twisted and gnarled trunk so that it could never again be made into a cross.