Naked Trees

There is just something about this time of year that I love.

The fresh face of autumn has passed, yet it's not quite winter...

...at least not around these parts.

~

We spent the latter part of last week and the weekend at Adam's lovely country place in Tennessee.

As I walked along the rural roads near his home, the trees just seemed to speak peace to me.

 

What is it about a naked tree anyway?

I took many photos.

Although the pictures can speak for themselves.
 I found a few quotes and poems to accompany them.

I hope you enjoy them along with the trees of Haywood Hollow.

"I prefer winter and fall, when you feel the bone structure of the landscape—
the loneliness of it, the dead feeling of winter.
Something waits beneath it, the whole story doesn't show."
~Andrew Wyeth

"The trees are about to show us how lovely it is to let dead things go."
~anonymous

"Listen ...
With faint, dry sound,
Like steps of passing ghosts,
The leaves, frost-crisp'd, break free from the trees
And fall."
~Adelaide Crapsey, 1878-1914, November Night

AUTUMN WOODS

~James S. Tippett

I like the woods

In autumn

When dry leaves hide the ground,

When the trees are bare

And the wind sweeps by

With a lonesome rushing sound.

I can rustle the leaves

In autumn

And I can make a bed

In the thick dry leaves that have fallen

From the bare trees

Overhead.

"The stripped and shapely
Maple grieves
The ghosts of her
Departed leaves.

The ground is hard,
As hard as stone.
The year is old,
The birds are flown."
~John Updike

THE NAKED TREE
~unknown

The majestic tree looks forlorn today
As its last leaves ever so gently fall
Denuding as the season changes
Heralding the end of Fall

The start of the season saw a tree aglow
Swathed in the glorious colors of Fall
Its leaves painted in scarlet and pink and gold
Its beauty held people in thrall

Now that the skin of leaves has peeled off
Its body is as bare as a skeleton
The branches are bony limbs of wood
Scrawny fingers of twigs at the end

And as the chilly wind blows through the air
It bares its naked branches to the cold
Defying the winter to bring on the snow
Alone and vulnerable, but bold



Do you see the heart?

I love seeing the naked trees against the backdrop of a cloudy sky.
And we all know that clouds usually enhance the setting sun's appearance.

This is the view from the back porch.

Yes, there's something about those naked trees...

...those hauntingly beautiful, mesmerizing, naked trees.

Views From My Front Porch

A MYSTERY

~Author Unknown

 

Who turned the green leaves

And turned them red and gold?

Who touched the morning air

And made it crisp and cold?

Who touched the green grass

And left it frosty white?

Who changed the whole world

 While I slept last night?

Of course there is no mystery here...

...we know Who changed them :)
~
I found this darling poem online saved as a PDF file with no reference to it's author,
only that it seemed to be written by a 4th grader for some kind of class assignment.
I just had to share it with you...

...since it's exactly what I've witnessed here over the last day or two.

I've really been admiring everyone's beautiful fall foliage posts recently

and I've mentioned a few times in my comments that we didn't have much color yet.

Well, the color has just popped out here...literally over night.

All of a sudden, the woods have come alive with pops of reds and yellows...
...with the brilliant backdrop making it easier to spot the birds!
The views from my front porch have dramatically changed!

I better enjoy them while I can because we all  know what's coming next.

~

Come said the wind to the leaves one day,

Come o're the meadows and we will play.
Put on your dresses scarlet and gold,
For summer is gone and the days grow cold."

~ a children's song of the 1880's


Sharing at:
Mosaic Monday
 

Mimosa Tree

If there's one thing I look forward to in the summer,
(and of course there are many)
it's when those trees with the pink "poofy things" 
(as I so lovingly refer to them)
start blooming just about everywhere I look.

It is the Albizia julibrissin (say that five times fast) or the Mimosa Tree. 



The Mimosa
~Jason Tomlinson

The only thing I know about trees is what I’m able to view
I don’t know much but I like to watch to find out what they do
and I’ve noticed my mimosa tree every single year
and how late in the spring its blossoms appear.



There are trees all over my neck of the woods
punctuating the landscape of all our neighborhoods
and it’s so nice when spring comes around
and the trees blossom all over town.



But it’s strange when I watch the mimosa tree
and why it waits so late is a mystery to me
but then I was encouraged by that one thing
the mimosa isn’t competing to bloom first in the spring,



it just does what it does slow and steady
and then it blooms when it is ready.

Do you enjoy mimosa trees in your corner of the world?

Things that make me go "ahhhh"

Greetings, my friends...

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend and that your Monday is off to a great start!

The weather over the weekend has been just glorious...

spring is definitely in full swing and we are expecting some April showers later today.

~

Although I love flowers of all kinds...in any season,

there are a few things that just thrill my heart when I lay my eyes on them...

...I mean I could just look at them all day!

~

Of course the redbud trees are among them...but you already knew that, didn't you?

 

 

It seems like this spring they have been especially lovely and they grow all over the countryside...

 

 

...but they are now beginning to fade.

It always makes me sad when I see those magenta blooms being replaced by leaves.

 

 

 

And then there are the dogwoods...

 

 

 ...I especially love them when they are first popping open.

 

 

 

Spring just wouldn't be spring without them.

 

 

 

But what really takes my breath away are the pink ones.

This one grows outside of the office where I work and I look forward to it's blooms every year.

 

 

Oh my goodness, I can't even tell you... 

 

 

...and they are especially beautiful from this perspective too, don't you think?

 

 

Last but certainly not least in any way are these lovlies... 

 

 

...I mean, my heart literally does backflips when I see them...

 

 

 

...well, it least it seems like it does!

 

 

 

I bought these this past weekend for half price...I paid only only $8.00 each!

I have never tried to grow them before...please pray I don't kill them!

~

So you know that reaction you have when you are watching fireworks on July 4th?

You know the one....oooohhhh!.....aahhhh!

 

 

I think you get the message, right?

~

And for those of you who still have snow, just think of it this way...

When my spring blooms have all but faded away, yours will just be coming on!

Sharing at:
 Mosaic Monday
Roses of Inspiration
Grace at Home

Trees: A Personal Photo Challenge

Trees.

I really like them a lot.
I am really glad that God included them when He created earth.

Trees are definitely one of my favorite things.

~
It's time again for Donna's Personal Photo Challenge and it's all about trees.

I have spent the last two evenings rooting (teehee) through my photos for this post.

That's a LOT of trees and it has been hard to decide which ones to use.
So, I've narrowed it down to about twenty...
...I'M KIDDING!
How about four...or five?

~
So, this was taken last winter with my point & shoot, looking up into the trees in my back yard.
It was a very gray, gloomy kind of day .

I played around with a few different effects and settled on the HDR effect in Picasa.
I liked the "artsy" look of it.
~
And then sometimes, you just find that certain tree...

...it's a favorite of mine at a lovely nature preserve in Fancy Gap, VA.
The tree is not all that special on it's own, but this whole setting just delights my soul...
...the way it stands alone out in the field of tall grasses, a gentle breeze swaying it's branches.
It reminds me of a scene from "Little House on the Prairie".
The only thing missing here is a nice soft quilt and a picnic basket.
The one above was taken in late summer of last year with my point-n-shoot.
I added a dusk effect and some softening in Picmonkey.

Same tree, different time, different camera...my newish DSLR.
So there I was again, a year later, just snapping away.
Picnic, anyone?
~
Then there are the trees of Fort Fisher at Carolina Beach.

I love what the wind and waves has done to these trees through time.

Yes...I do love trees.
From my head down to my knees.
I love trees :)