07 January 2008

Winter Sun and Post Oak



The post oak out front is a kind of winter hourglass for me. Its copper leaves stay on nearly throughout the winter and only clear in the blustery winds of Spring. The crown of the tree loses leaves first, and finally the bottom limbs thin out just in time for new green. This photo was how the new year 2008 started. We had a few days with temps in the bitter teens. Now we're in a run of strangely warm and windy days with highs near 70. Seems odd for January, but odd weather is getting to be the norm!

The woodpeckers are everywhere this time of year and this morning I saw a Brown Creeper out on a red oak in the chicken's pasture. Lots of birds particularly like the acorns on the ground under this Post Oak so despite it's tough reputation, I've come to love it in the front yard. And yes, it does indicate that the soil on our hillside is fairly awful, but we knew that already!