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The dried fruit on the crabapple trees have been hanging, shriveled and unappreciated, all winter - so I was glad to see that the robins enjoy eating them, and to hear their singing. Is it early for robins to appear, migrating in such multitudes? I don't know - but last week I saw an opossum, and I have to wonder about that too.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRo4NZwC8-cPUrjwf7xRBKyu_7vWxEETI6VH4qBD05gsO5b92BhkFdjH91tOkPP9w_IZ3gsbaybLBCgMDnGT02PJPfjG7l2-l1lADOhxOw5BaqnSpz7dNsj-mBxdWFqKVjKJdOvJLcTGA/s320/robinsintree.jpg)
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Following are a few examples of the prevailing trends that make for the inescapable conclusion that unprecedented things are occurring in our tree population. I'm not sure why exactly, but I do know, none of this is normal, or beneficial. First - bark is frayed, splitting, and falling from trunks and branches.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgonQ2g8RR4msrCufgAW6SNl8FdokV09l07NxjXebgCAyFaNQGovvQWVt-FeoGuv1eeMeacal4alYeEQuXWAXZ-HYFPohrm09RSJsO7fxuM0bzfEtol9izlLgXGdslwCaD2VrH7fBqZgaY/s320/dogwood.jpg)
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This happens to be a dogwood - but you can find the same thing on every species. It's unbelievable how fast this trend is visible, among trees young and old and in between.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJcThkSYDIOjfajZE72wibK36T0LYmwS0MAMueKTJyq8pizjLdu_GMuQQqqX-Dib6os3Y_9UQgTHzaF1qjai_v1NhgOAfKw3DFrfChhcjXDOK1NzhMiembkoR65tUAqzqK8lAjc1z5dfs/s320/acidgreen.jpg)
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This makes for a very changed landscape, where the view into a mixed wood is wide open, through pines that until this year were solid walls of greenery.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0lNpjWfdd6yI48tPnnJP2vu3GR_C7d9MGWRKM26L0XIkoekZySDZGy4gydRp1ib6WkmJPmgYfX8A9BGoqaM4z-XZYhpwwYzirIGI6tn-3_BePqDivadbaqvVx-EZtFB-rN2BGgx0lqqE/s320/pineclose.jpg)
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The interiors are a palette of extreme hues of red (lost bark), black (fungus), and white (oozing sap.)
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_UN84nKy0KqbvKwTLC2l48cAnDrqKgeTDVCP-wb5EMA5nyKGkzNgFd_1tO7W-QkthtzBDlQO7EtDzas8mS4V_zbtKtsRhocTO7RJnQ3i0LykWeqGVz56EWZx1wxW7QTtKfEtlxelasYA/s320/redtrunk.jpg)
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It is a strange red hue. Here is a closeup of a rampant calamity - splitting and seeping, bleeding sap.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipNnBIYTirW7ybiDbt96L7szZPNRWL_QKY3_2m6CWuvo_K9fWoOPOdMObBKI5JeSaH8jw5_vyRSX9YJxJvmUBYRympWYCFL6v3Gkcc4Le_8Qto1Pq_DJ5AxdRraRBQdxkgobdPf75D7eg/s320/redsplit.jpg)
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The woman who planted this Alaska Cypress is quite a devoted gardener. Last fall, it was a cascade of lush green. You couldn't see through it to the wall of the building. It's a very special and unusual specimen.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj500XuEs02X3E831LkJB_8BVnpSLyH7LPCq9VILQS62ieOR5oAIjg90p3O-PFDz4a8u8wjMq9C8OO7JcP81AW_aaBt-rf4XL0-2GzPhtI3neGzucjtywMXtNpZStOB6sEtcCd47EYSi94/s320/alaskacypress.jpg)
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Then to be polite and respectful, even though it's obviously on death's doorstep, I blurted out something awkwardly dumb like, well, it's just lovely! To which she replied, with a pained and stricken expression, "Thank You!"
Here are the two poems promised in the title of this post:
A Song of Enchantment
A song of Enchantment I sang me there,
In a green green wood, by waters fair,
Just as the words came up to me
I sang it under the wild wood tree.
Widdershins turned I, singing it low,
Watching the wild birds come and go;
No cloud in the deep dark blue to be seen
Under the thick-thatched branches green.
Twilight came: silence came:
The planet of Evening's silver flame;
By darkening paths I wandered through
Thickets trembling with drops of dew.
But the music is lost and the words are gone
Of the song I sang as I sat alone
Ages and ages have fallen on me -
On the wood and the pool and the elder tree.
Autumn
There is wind where the rose was;
Cold rain where sweet grass was;
And clouds like sheep
Stream o'er the steep
Grey skies where the lark was.
Nought gold where your hair was;
Nought warm where your hand was;
But fantom, forlorn,
Beneath the thorn,
Your ghost where your face was.
Sad winds where your voice was;
Tears, tears where my heart was;
And ever with me,
Child, ever with me,
Silence where hope was.
Oh my gosh -- just saw about 100 robins myself today here in MA! But I've actually been seeing some all winter, which stikes me as odd. A relative in OH just commented on seeing one this week, and when I replied that I'd been seeing them all winter, she stated she hadn't.But I did wonder if this was due her observation skills, or true reality.
ReplyDeleteAh! But were they singing? Check at the end of this link for a map of singing! http://www.learner.org/jnorth/tm/robin/ConfusingMigration.html
ReplyDeleteEvery poem demostrates the love, compassion and good will human being. In fact i read a wonderful poem few time ago. I really loved. That´s why i think this blog is very interesting, most of all for the people who enjoy the poems. I saw
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