D is for Deciduous

I love the pine woods behind my house. Stalwart the trees stand, season in and season out, murmuring summer secrets, roaring out autumn's blustery songs, whispering in thickly falling snow, rippling with suppressed excitement at spring's approach.

Yet while they wear their staid and sober green, it's their oak and maple sisters that lead the dance.


Patiently they wait under the snow...


watching the sky for signs.


The redbuds begin the spring parade...


soon followed by their gaudier cousins.


(Some people apparently like to be a little too close to the action.)




The lush greens of summer spread their shady skirts.


The panoply of autumn finery comes again (anyone know where I took the picture above?)...




and the ecdysiasts of the front yard make the most of one last wild romp before it's time to sleep again.