Could That Really Be ... Summer On The Way?

For several weeks, our area has been plagued with yo-yo temperatures. One day will be hot and steamy, the next will be cool and dreary. It's no wonder half the people I know are sick! But yesterday I was able to take a short walk on the property, and it really actually does look like summer is just around the corner.

That deep, dark green covers everything on the property now, that shade that I adore because there are so many layers of trees waving in the breeze. It was winter for so very long - I'm sure you know the feeling where you are - that now I feel like dancing down the trails!

So I kind of, sort of, did. I grabbed my camera and took off down the first trail I came to. Danny got the ones on this side of the ponds cleared off, and it felt like a real adventure to go exploring after so many months of ice and snow.

Down that trail one direction is my favorite patch of wild blackberry bushes. They're right up the hill from the house, and in another two months they'll be huge and full of ripe, juicy berries. I'd better start bookmarking some new blackberry recipes!

Down the trail in the opposite direction I found my path blocked by a slightly large fallen tree. We've had so many wind storms since the beginning of the year that I'm surprised I didn't find more. I could see it from the driveway, but I'd never had the chance to go check it out.

You can see exactly where it snapped off and feel straight down. It wasn't a very old tree, so it wasn't thick enough to handle the winds. The roots must be pretty great, though, that the whole thing didn't keel over.

It's always fascinated me that you can tell the history of the tree by looking at its insides. The whole story of its life is right there in its rings, from heat to rain to nature's roughness, but you can't see it until it's dead or dying. All that story waiting to be told, but it can't until something dramatic happens.

The other end took out part of a couple more trees, but their trunks are still in good shape. I'm sure if I went exploring longer, I'd find more trees that took a tumble. Now I want to go for another walk, this time in the other direction!