The first snow of the season fell on Friday and Saturday, covering the autumn leaves. Sunday was cold, intense blue sky, and a rain of falling mulberry leaves. It was a downpour, a shower of leaves. Mulberries are very sensitive to temperature. You can read more about them, here.
The maples and the ginkgoes, too, dropped most of their leaves in the coldest air of the season. It is quite a sight, all those fallen leaves on the snow.
Now, the snow is melting in the balmy almost 40-degree temperatures. Birds are chirping on the branches. Today, rakes will replace the snow shovels.
While the leafy deciduous trees are going dormant, the evergreens stay green all winter. They have adapted, in their own way, to the cold and shorter days. They also provide shelter for birds and animals, and they are cherished by people who live in colder climates. Evergreens are the decorated trees of December.
But the bare trees with just a few remaining leaves have an austere beauty, the beauty of the bones of things. You can see the fractal branching, the unique shapes of the trees–maples, oaks, mulberries–each as distinctive as their leaves. High in the branches, there are birds’ nests, and the larger nests of squirrels. The trees are bare, but not unadorned. And all the better to see the moon.
The moon tonight is called a waxing gibbous moon. The moon will be full on the night of the 25th. It will still be almost full on Thanksgiving, the 26th. Perhaps we could call this a Thanksgiving moon, round and plentiful. In this even more uncertain world, there is still much to be thankful for.
Now, we prepare for winter. Nights grow longer, now, approaching the winter solstice. The moon is bright in the cold clear sky, a light in the November trees.
Thanks to all who have stopped by, thank you for your time and attention. Thank you so much for reading.
Filed under: Uncategorized
Thank you for an especially beautiful post. It reminds me of the nursery rhyme "Here we go 'round the mulberry bush" -- which probably has a much less beautiful origin than your observations.
I'm thinking of music, too, as I read this -- Lloyd-Webber's "Memory" beginning "Moonlight! Turn your face to the moonlight; let your memory lead you -- open up, enter in!"
Thanks as always for reading. I am trying to think of a melting snow song, but "Here Comes the Sun" may do.
"Here Comes the Sun?" It's all right....
And a tree near my window has a new busted branch.
Oh, Jack! I'm sorry to hear that. Was it from the storm?
Weight of the snow. Many of the trees were bent over, but popped back up, but this one broke.
The birches are especially lovely sans leaves.
They are,indeed. Thanks so much AW.
Beautiful images, I love it.
Thank you, Kathy. And the moon was lovely last night...