Our New Neighborhood – August 2022

I started out an early morning walk around the neighborhood ponds noticing the moon….almost matching the blue of the sky and the resulting image looking like a cyanotype print!

There were still a few flowers at the pond edge…and seed stalks that caught the light.

I noticed that river birches were the most numerous trees around the pond and decided that looking up into their canopy of leaves and curling bark was more interesting that viewing the whole tree. From further way.

There was a pine tree from a yard that hung over the path….a dense cross hatch of branches and needles that had detained a pine cone. All the cones that must have fallen to the ground had been picked up.

The tree I was most fascinated with was a willow – glorious with the light behind it. When I got closer, I noticed that there was a metal stake embedded in the trunk. Perhaps when it was a very young tree, it had been braced with a stake on each side….and no one came to remove the bracing. Slowly the tree is incorporating the stake into itself (this could be dangerous years in the future if the tree needs to be cut down).

I also noticed surface roots on all sides of the tree. Did the soil erode after the tree was planted?

There is probably more the this tree’s story…..