Shapes and colors of winter

Fall ended a long time ago, and we’re well into winter. (Some say the Groundhog Day is the midpoint of winter.) It’s hard to tell from the weather, which sometimes swings from single digits to almost 70 in the span of a few days.

Unless it’s too cold or rainy, I enjoy rambling this time of year. It’s easier to see into the woods; sometimes the shapes of trees and vines almost jump out, especially on cloudy days, when fallen trees and large vines paint black lines in the woods. The designs of the bark on different trees and the holes in some trees fascinate me.

It certainly looks like winter; the trees and shrubs are mostly gradients of grays and browns, although the pines, red cedars, and doomed hemlocks, as well as a few native hollies, add spots of green to the woods. The beech trees and some oaks retain their leaves (marcescence) long after most leaves have carpeted the forest floor (and filled the ditches).

The many ferns, mosses, and lichens also add texture in greens, grays, and sometimes white. I never tire of examining their many varied shapes and textures.

There are other colors, too–the occasional flash of a red cardinal, an orange rust fungi on a pine, the blue of birdeye speedwell (Veronica persica), the green leaves of golden ragwort (Packera aurea), wooly mullein (Verbascum), and putty root orchid (Plectrum hyemale), and sometimes a glimpse of a railroad car by the river far below.

And there are views that I appreciate every day when I pass by.

The deer come regularly, especially the young ones who were born last year. Sometimes they show up with frost on their coats. Itsy lost one of his antlers last week; I hoped to find it but was unsuccessful.

And that’s it for today from French Broad Hollow, where the rain has started and the wind is blowing.