Songs from the Wood¹

Yellow Poplar
OAFS Photo

At Chez Tuttle et The Nuke, there are a lot of trees. Their neighborhood is heavily wooded and is home to a fair-sized herd of deer and any number of foxes, raccoons, squirrels, and the ever present birds.

While sojourning in Maryland over the holidays I had the opportunity to meander out and just stare at the forest. It's something I've done for a long time, since I was a kid growing up in the woods of Vermont.

There is something peaceful out there, something old and profound. One just has to sit and listen.

Sycamore
OAFS Photo

One tree that I finally noticed was the one above, looked like its bark was peeling away as if something was wrong with it.

Nope, it's just what they look like ...

Another Sycamore
OAFS Photo

On the drive home I couldn't help but notice all of the sycamores down Maryland/Delaware way. They're everywhere.

The kids also have a very lovely chestnut tree at the foot of the driveway and lovely holly trees at either end of that driveway. I miss those trees.

I watched two squirrels having a brouhaha over something while I stood quietly, listening and watching. Then I heard a woodpecker not far away. It took me a few moments to spot him, pecking away on top of a branch. My guess is that both species were in search of sustenance. That's what the wild world does, look for food and reproduce.

It's a simple life, but a harsh one out there. For some animals, those squirrels are sustenance. Like the old saying goes: nature, red in tooth and claw², better to be civilized.

I suppose.

Jack-In-The-Green

Ian Anderson/Jethro Tull

Have you seen Jack-In-The-Green?

With his long tail hanging down

He quietly sits under every tree

In the folds of his velvet gown

He drinks from the empty acorn cup

The dew that dawn sweetly bestows

And taps his cane upon the ground

Signals the snowdrops it's time to grow

It's no fun being Jack-In-The-Green

No place to dance, no time for song

He wears the colours of the summer soldier

Carries the green flag all the winter long

Jack, do you never sleep

Does the green still run deep in your heart?

Or will these changing times

Motorways, powerlines

Keep us apart?

Well, I don't think so

I saw some grass growing through the pavements today

The rowan, the oak, and the holly tree

Are the charges left for you to groom

Each blade of grass whispers Jack-In-The-Green

Oh Jack, please help me through my winter's night

And we are the berries on the holly tree

Oh, the mistle thrush³ is coming

Jack, put out the light

Source

It's good to stay in touch with Mother Nature.

At least I like to.

¹ With apologies to Ian Anderson and Jethro Tull.

² Alfred, Lord Tennyson said that. The Charge of the Light Brigade fellow, former Poet Laureate of the UK. The bird thrives on mistletoe

³ A bird common to Europe, temperate Asia, and North Africa. The bird thrives on mistletoe, hence the name.