Thinking Trees

The quiet still of this bright sunny morning belies a  week of harsh whipping winds which thrashed both tree and limbs into submission. So persistent are this year's leaves grasping onto their limbs, especially the outermost limbs, with a tenacity not experienced in recent years. Many of these outer leaves still holding on remain very colorful. They retain deep color pigmentations after chlorophyl ceased  production. A problem may come if an early snow lays in some depth before the majority of persistent leaves fall. Limbs which whipped crazily last week may now bend and break under the weight of accumulating snow. Nature dances to its own music, in its own time, whether with serenity or bluster, and cares little, if at all, to human influences.

Ronald C. Downie