Trees

I am a tree person. I really love flowers, I marvel at their beauty and variations. But give me a tree any day. Trees are so majestic. They can tell a story by the way they are shaped as they grow. They have seen things change throughout time. Trees change with the seasons never quite looking the same. I love to look up into a tree and see how the light filters through the leaves. The light changes with the season just as the leaves change.

One thing I really miss about living up north is how the trees change. I love the fullness of the leaves in summer and the brilliant color changes of autumn. In winter the starkness of the bare branches against a grey winter sky. And spring when the buds arrive and you know the long winter will soon be over.

In Florida we get some changes but they are more subtle. The fullness of summer lasts much, longer for us. The colors on some trees change in December in a much milder form. We have about a month with no leaves, and then budding starts in late January, or early February. Some trees in Florida never lose their leaves, making it always a bit green here even in winter.

The oak trees here in Florida, as in much of the south, are beautiful. Moss grows, hanging off the trees, swaying in the breeze. I always feel connected to the earth a little bit more when I am under a beautiful tree.