Two Weeks Before Snowfall, Minneapolis, Minnesota, October 2008, photo © 2008 by QuoinMonkey. All rights reserved.
two short weeks ago
before winter stripped her bare
the face of an ash
oak branches bend, sway,
leaves darting, one with the wind
October’s last breath
Face Of An Ash, Change Of Seasons, End Of Fall, Minneapolis, Minnesota, October 2008, photo © 2008 by QuoinMonkey. All rights reserved.
-posted on red Ravine, Monday, October 27th, 2008
-related to post: haiku (one-a-day)
Beautiful pics. We have a tree by our new deck that looked just like that before it dropped it’s leaves. The contrast against the sky was wonderful. I live in Minneapolis by the way.
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Quoinmonkey – these haiku express the season so well.
October’s last breath, indeed. I’m watching my sumac gradually being stripped of her leaves, but they are desperately hanging on, still. G
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QM, very nice. Isn’t it strange how the trunks and branches of trees—is it all types?—turn so dark they look black against the sky in fall?
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QM, I love these photos & the haiku. I too, have been watching the changes in our trees. Our beautiful leaves are mostly gone now. My decks are proof! So is my driveway! Oh well, nothing we can do about it. We will close up camp this week-end & I’m truly sad. We have only gotten there 3 times this year & I had such high hopes. But, I have J & he is healthier day by day & that’s what really counts. There is always next year. oo wrote to me about snow in WY & now you’ve had snow also. Winter is not far from us. Yuck! D
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goldenferi, I didn’t know you lived in Minneapolis! Hey, that was some storm last weekend, wasn’t it? Almost all the leaves have blown off the trees now. Except, of course, the oaks which hang on to the very end (and sometimes even through the whole winter).
Liz and I were talking yesterday about the live oaks we saw in Savannah and St. Simons, how they are such a different kind of tree with massive branches growing close to the ground, and they never lose their leaves. I really loved the live oaks.
G., the sumacs are beautiful – red right? They are some of the first to turn here, that brilliant beautiful burgundy red.
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ybonesy, are they actually turning darker? I didn’t know that. Last year we planted 3 new dogwood on the side of the house and the branches and trunk turn a really nice shade of red while the leaves turn yellow. I guess I never thought about huge trees turning darker, too.
diddy, yep, the snow is coming your way. It was cool and blustery through yesterday. Of course, the snow didn’t stick. Yet! We mowed a few weekends ago which took care of a lot of the leaves that had fallen – they got mulched. The rest from the oaks, we’ll have to rake soon and cover the roses. I think we’re supposed to cover them after the first hard freeze which we might have just had. I need to check that.
Yes, there is always next year. But you took care of the most important things – each other. Can’t believe it’s already time to close up camp on the Susquehanna. Hmmm. Where did the summer go. And even the Fall for that matter. Winter is well on the way.
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Well, I don’t know that they actually turn dark but they sure seem to *look* darker. To me, anyway. I know the cottonwoods do here. Maybe it’s a sort of fall/winter “sleight of hand” thing that happens.
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Yeah, they do look darker. Your question just got me wondering if the bark really does change color a bit with the seasons. If you think about everything going on underneath the bark at certain times of the year — like the sugar running through the veins of sugar maples to make syrup.
I bet it’s the contrast of bark against sky, too, without the distraction of the leaves. And then suddenly – a good wind — bare branches that look like dead sticks. Until those little buds that come with early Spring. 8)
It seemed like when I lived in Montana there weren’t as many reds as there were yellows in the Fall. Poplars or something. Or is it tamaracks? I wish I could remember.
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Not many reds here in NM either. LOTS of yellow—cottonwoods mostly, but at our house lots of ash, too. The previous owner liked ash a lot.
We have something here called “tamarisk,” or “salt cedar.” I’m sure I’ve written about it before. It’s not native, was introduced from Asia, I believe, and it turns a really beautiful pink—looks like the watermelon—pink and green. But it also continues turning, goes golden to orange. Really gorgeous, and I love the look but it’s horrid for the dry climate here. A real water gobbler.
Poplars, aspens, cottonwoods—aren’t they all related? They’re all yellow turners, not red. Oak turns red, right? One spot up in the Sandias called “Fourth of July Canyon” turns red; hence, the name.
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Yes, I remember you talking about the salt cedar (tamarisk). It has a similar name to the Tamarack so I had to look it up. It looks like there is a Tamarack Pine (or Lodgepole Pine) that’s a scrub pine that looks kind of like a cedar. I remember there were tons of those in the MT forests.
Then there is a Tamarack Larch that turns yellow in Fall. They also grew in MT. I think it was the Tamarack Larch that I remember peppering the Montana forest in Fall. I wonder if the “tamarisk” or salt cedar is related to the Tamarack Pine?
I wish I knew more details about trees. I’ve never had the greatest retention of tree names. But if it’s any consolation to the trees, I don’t remember human names easily either — but I never forget a face.
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I love the double play on “bare” with the first haiku and words associated with movement on the second. Both haiku capture the feeling of autumn indeed. Of course, the photo is an extra boost. 🙂
Lovely.
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A~Lotus, I like the connection you made between the two. Thank you. Good to hear from you. Haven’t had a chance to check out your Word Art yet but will make time before the end of the day. Wishing you well in your recovery from the pile up.
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The sweeping lines and contrast in this image are amazing. Great capture, made more so by the fact there is now snow.
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