In Praise of Trees

As the trees leaf out in sparkling green, I realize anew how fortunate I am to live surrounded by these marvelous creations--the lungs of our planet.

 

The Trees Are Writing Messages on the Sky

A Year Ago

I've been trying to reduce the size of my photo files -- delete all the duplicates and near duplicates and otherwise not-worth-saving stuff. I'm working backwards and have gone as far as August of last year. I've deleted around 2,ooo pictures, realizing that possibly one can have too many pictures of sunflowers/daylilies/blacksnakes/snow/autumn leaves/sunrises, tomatoes, and, yes, even Josie -- who accounts for much of my picture taking these days.

It was good to be reminded of what our view was before the tree were cut. And amazing that we let it go on that way so long -- kinda like the frog in the slowly warming pot who's cooked before he realizes what's happening.  (It just occurred to me--that analogy is uncomfortably like the state of our nation and, more importantly, of our environment today--but I digress.) 

And how our girl has grown! She was a real toddler and her hair was straight. Obviously, she already had attitude.

I'll continue this voyage of attrition over the coming weeks. And I'll try to to a better job of editing and deleting from now on!

Worth Every Penny

We awoke to a partially restored view, eager to see the last of that big elm that the sun is hiding behind. 

I'd almost forgotten how beautiful the rising mist is.

The elm proved recalcitrant -- it's a huge tree and will provide a lot of firewood. It required almost three hours of trimming branches and clearing a place for it to fall. And when it finally gave way, I missed it because I was changing Josie's diaper.

Once the elm was down, there were a few smaller trees still blocking the view. And, at last, they were down!

And it's back! -- the view that we fell in love with in 1973, the view that convinced us this was where we wanted to spend our lives.

The great thing is, that though there have been more houses built out there, the trees have been growing out there too, and we actually are seeing fewer buildings that we did ten years ago.

After supper, we took a bottle of  bubbly out to the porch to enjoy the night time view. And we saw fewer lights than we remembered, thanks again to those growing trees out there.

We were very pleased with Cruz Tree Services --  Salvador Cruz at 828- 266-0416. This is not a big company and I can't find a website for him. But they are hard, careful workers and they do what they say they'll do. We'll be using Cruz Tree Services again. He's on Facebook HERE and he responded to a message in a timely manner. They do work all over western NC and are nice folks. 

Expect more sunrise pictures!

Cuttus Interruptus

The two tree guys (Cruz Tree Service) showed up around nine and worked hard till six and about half of our view is restored!!!

It looked like this before they started . . .

And when the first trees fell and I could see the familiar outline of the Blue Ridge in the distance, I felt like crying and, at the same time, whooping for joy. 

I swear, my very eyes were glad to be able to stretch out and rest against those far mountains.

The boss's second grader son came up to the porch and hung out with us off and on during the day -- a really nice boy.

I celebrated the returning of the view by washing the front windows -- quite suitable, I thought. I had to do something while those guys were working so hard down there.

They called it quits around 6:30. The big elm to the left will have to wait. They should be back today. 

Oh, joy! Oh, rapture!

In Search of Autumn

Abundant rain and only a few cold nights have resulted, so far, in a muted display of fall color. The Burning Bush above has not fully committed to its usual scarlet and the trees along the pasture's fence line are subdued shadows of what they have been in previous years.
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The yellow-orange of the tree behind the Freewill Baptist Church down the branch caught my eye . . .

. . . and I stopped the car in the middle of the road to snap this sourwood below -- which is doing its best to bring color to a (so-far) less-than-spectacular Fall.

Things could change. I seem to remember that last year the color was slow coming but the reds and oranges finally burst forth.

I'm keeping an eye on the maples.

Sundry Snaps

The black walnut trees are loaded with nuts -- which sound like gunshots when they fall on the metal chicken house roof and act like ball-bearings when you step on them en route to feed the chickens.

A Japanese Anemone blooming in my friend Josie's yard makes me think of a Pheasant Eye daffodil.

Evening sunlight

A young turkey -- the 'beard' on his chest suggests he's probably a male and thus called a jake -- he'll be a tom when he matures. For more about turkeys -- go here ,

X-rated okra. Enough said.

A shy young possum, out on his own for the night and making the best of the dog food that I forgot to cover. Look at those sweet white-tipped ears!

And yes, another sunrise -- this one really made me think of early Technicolor -- as in Gone with the Wind. And no, I didn't fool around with the special effects -- it's as it was.