It’s the last morning of October. Power has been on and off several times; the sun has just broken through the clouds that brought us torrential rain overnight. Wind gusts in the night exceeded 40 miles per hour and still are in the mid-30’s. It’s a “hot” 59 degrees (F) already and clearly will be in the 60’s before Noon.
Mosquitos and dragonflies were flying yesterday, and no doubt will do so today; some trees have not yet lost their leaves and barely have turned to fall colors – and, as you see below, the Tamarack Trees have only now started to glow weakly, which signals that their needles won’t become incandescent and fall until mid- to late-November.
It’s not right. But, we all know that and most of us are not doing enough to right the increasing list of the world’s environment or to worry about tipping points.
Nonetheless, for a while, we can admire the “Tamarack,” an Algonquin Tribe name for “snowshoe wood.” The tree also is called a Larch or Hackmatack by many. It’s different from most trees: it’s “deciduous” (not evergreen), but also “coniferous” (cone-bearing), and “monoecious” (producing male and female cones).
(Images taken in Brooklin, Maine, on October 30, 2021.)