Breezes
We are halfway through the summer now and it seems fair to share my observation that this is the breeziest summer that I can remember. We have had plenty of very hot days and the predictable humidity and stretches where the days end with a storm. But these breezes are something new- throughout the day gentle movement of the air that cools, ripples the leaves on the trees, offers some sort of hope and relief.
When you plan your garden, or when you come home with an unplanned addition, you are usually thinking about the qualities that it will bring- flowers, fruits, shade, screening, other sorts of beauty. But you don’t usually think about how it will move in a gentle breeze or how that movement can add so much to your experience. What I am discovering is that it is not just the pleasant physical sensation on my skin that is so nice or watching the slight movement in the trees but also the feeling that change is in the air. These breezes have an optimistic feel to them.
I have spent the last hour trying to capture a breeze in my camera and I am pleased to say that I cannot do it. Like fleeting smiles they don’t translate well to a still image. But they keep coming, gently tickling me while I sleep and luring me out into the garden in the midday heat, intriguing me with the promise of change. There is nothing I love more than being surprised by the familiar world around me and that has happened recently with this maple. A branch had fallen after a windy night. When I picked it up to marvel at the complexity and colors of the various lichen on its surface, the bark broke away and revealed wood that was already nearly soil. Soft and fragrant, the branch held centipedes, a small snail and some pill bugs. This tree is turning to soil twenty feet up in the sky-no wonder the birds peck and dig in it!
In forest ecology a tree like mine is called a snag. I had thought that a snag was just a dead tree but the arborist who checked it for me last year used that word casually as she reassured me that it didn’t seem likely to fall down or die anytime soon. It turns out a snag is any standing dead or dying tree. Besides the insect meals buried in the wood, the hollowed out branches are important nesting sites for a number of our birds. Over the years I have also seen raccoons, opossums, squirrels, rats and various snakes using the trunk and branches as shelter.
I understand that not everyone would want to manage a dying tree on their property; we don’t have much actual land around our houses and of course we prefer to have healthy living trees and other plants. I have 38 living trees, one dying- this maple- and one dead one. The main worry and nuisance is falling branches. But in the right spot, not overhanging the house or places where people sit, it can be a great addition with all the creatures that are attracted to it.
The early weeks of spring require a bit of patience. When I look back at the photos of my garden from the last five Marches, I see snow covering blooming daffodils, spotty bits of color here and there, a few delicate groupings of blossoming shrubs- it really requires an optimist’s eye to feel that spring is really here in March. There is so very little green at first. But the green will come, and the many blossoms- it is unstoppable really- and even our declining Silver maple will burst forth with leaf- covered branches. And in the meantime, the drama and intrigue of all the life that calls that tree home will take the edge off my impatience.