The rain stopped just a minute ago. A slight mist rises from the hot asphalt, an accent against the deep green of the tree leaves. My shoulders drop as though I’d let a heavy backpack slip from them. Everything I can see is green. Trees, plants, just green. No cement. No asphalt except the two-lane … read more Home away from home
Category: Trees
To See A Tree: A naturalist’s journal of the Southern Appalachians. Our ambivalent and ignorant relationship with the natural world
Saturday night date
It’s Saturday night. So we went out. Tom slipped into the wheelchair with amazing ease – just one day of rehab did that. We signed out and took the elevator to the first floor. No chaperone. “This is a DATE, right?” I said, our old joke. I pushed him outside, and showed him the outdoor … read more Saturday night date
Type Tom
Tom’s blood sugar has had the doctors scratching their heads. For him, this is a typical medical experience. He’s always outside the norm, and they don’t know quite what to do with him. Since his stroke Thursday, Tom’s glucose levels have been high – 200s, even high 200s, where normal is 80 to 100 and … read more Type Tom
Bodies of light
I’m a window person, not an aisle person. When you’re 35,000 feet above the ground, you can see how small we are, and how big the earth is. I want to see that every chance I get. The clouds from the window on the flight yesterday were spectacular. Towering bodies of bulky white, spirit formations … read more Bodies of light
Milking it
Today’s hike took me through a meadow that I haven’t been to in years. The community has reseeded it so that it’s now all native plants, specially picked to attract birds and butterflies. Milkweed is a favorite of monarch butterflies, and there are now several huge patches of it in the meadows. Milkweed is a … read more Milking it
Quieting down
Some days, like today, seems there’s nothing but noise in my head. Just stray bits of fuzz, flies buzzing, engines idling. A very big crowd of people in a stadium all talking at once, not really paying attention to the game that they’re there to watch. At work, I was trying to troubleshoot technical problems long distance, … read more Quieting down
MimOHsa!
I had a bunch of mimosas while driving today. Not the kind with champagne. I mean those trees with the pretty pink fringed puffballs that serve as blossoms. June is the time when you see them everywhere in Georgia. Not just in front of homes, but in vacant lots, anywhere that’s been left alone. This tree … read more MimOHsa!
Isn’t she lovely?
This pretty orb weaver has a body less than half an inch long. She’s built a nice web on my deck in a perfect location – where I won’t walk into it, but she’s catching plenty of insects to eat. We’re both happy. She has been a touch of beauty in an otherwise terrible week … read more Isn’t she lovely?
Passion for a flower
I’ll never forget the first time I saw one. I had just moved to North Georgia and was taking a walk when this wild-ass flower caught my eye. I thought it was plastic at first. It had frilly fringes, purple petals with pink and white stripes, and a big yellow cruciform jumping out of the middle like … read more Passion for a flower
The old sourwood
I heard the BOOM and went upstairs, but I didn’t hurry. I knew what it was. A tree that falls on a road or hard ground makes a particular kind of BOOM. Once you hear it, your memory hangs onto it. There was a sourwood at my house that was leaning over the road. It had a … read more The old sourwood