Pecan

 

Virginia Pine

There are sights so common where I live that I dare say that many, if not most, of us, myself included, hardly give them a second thought. But occasionally there are times, when I'm either alone or with one other person, I'll stop, look up, and just marvel at these giants of the woods. Like a parent gawking at his growing teenage son, I marvel at how these trees reached such awesome heights. Could I have been asleep when this all happened? Was I unduly preoccupied with something else? How could I have missed this? 

In any case, there they are. Unmistakable. Quintessentially Virginian, even though I know they are quite common throughout what we here generally refer to as the Middle Atlantic states. And every once in a while, sometimes quite a while, I pause and take note.

Dogwoods

The dogwood trees are blooming here now. May I never be so distracted as not to notice.

Monuments

I guess you probably already know that our mountains in Virginia are old. I mean, REALLY old, to the tune of millions and millions of years old. That's why I felt like I was walking back in time the minute I set foot on the Hightop Mountain Trail, which is part of the 2100+ mile Appalachian Trail . It's filled with--as I'm told Nathaniel Hawthorne once put it--"earth's undecaying monuments." 

Huge boulders stacked one on top of another suddenly made me feel very, VERY small and in awe of the unimaginably powerful forces that put them there.

Fir Tree

Frelinghuysen Arboretum

Morristown, New Jersey

Magnolia

Frelinghuysen Arboretum

Morristown, New Jersey

Japanese Maple

Frelinghuysen Arboretum

Morristown, New Jersey

Ginkgo

Smith College Arboretum

Northampton, Massachusetts

 

Got Woodpeckers?

Robert Frost Trail

Mount Toby Recreation Area

Peach

Signs & Wonders

York River State Park

Old Knobby

 

Taskinas Trail, York River State Park

Autumn Sky

Linking today with Skywatch Friday.

Fruit to Nuts

 

 

 

I never cease to be amazed by both the variety of trees we have here in Williamsburg, literally everything from fruit to nuts. :-)

Signs

 

 

I sometimes think summer will last forever, and that these days when afternoon temperatures reach into the 90s will never end. Then . . . I look up, like I did yesterday, only to discover that, in fact, as Bob Dylan put it, "the times they are a-changin" after all. That epiphany came when I noticed the walnuts dropping from this tree, a sure sign that autumn is on the way.

 

Crepe Myrtle Festival

 

Yes, the heat and humidity have returned with heat indices rising into the triple digits, but so has the peak season for crepe myrtles. 

 

 

Makes me wonder why, if people hold cherry blossom festivals earlier in the year, why we don't have crepe myrtle festivals. Maybe because it's just too darn hot? So maybe we could celebrate with appropriately colored (and flavored) crushed ice?

Paw Paw

Reminds me of a former neighbor who raised Paw Paws to eat. He insisted they were quite tasty. According to Healthline, "Pawpaws are prized for their flavor, which is described as a tropical blend of mango, banana, berries, and pineapple. . . . However, it’s important to note that there are several types of wild pawpaw, some of which don’t have a pleasant taste."

Lagerstroemia

 

"Lagerstroemia, commonly known as crape myrtle (also spelled crepe myrtle or crêpe myrtle), is a genus of around 50 species of deciduous and evergreen trees and shrubs native to the Indian subcontinent, southeast Asia, northern Australia, and other parts of Oceania, cultivated in warmer climates around the world. It is a member of the family Lythraceae, which is also known as the loosestrife family. The genus is named after Swedish merchant Magnus von Lagerström, a director of the Swedish East India Company, who supplied Carl Linnaeus with plants he collected. These flowering trees are beautifully colored and are often planted both privately and commercially as ornamentals." -- Wikipedia

Peaches!

 

 

 

I've been somewhat surprised to see peaches coming into season here lately.  Surprised, because I can remember seeing the trees, but not the fruit. So maybe they've just taken this long to fruit. I've read that it can take from three to four years to do so, and this does look like a very young tree.

 

Southern Magnolia