Tree Talk 17
I told you so. Well, if I could talk I would have told you so: that winter was coming if we all just have a little patience. That is one of those things I can feel in my extremities and as you know I have a lot of them.
However, I must admit this has been the mildest winter I can recall. It was great to still be here and experience some record high temperatures and so little snowfall – so far. After last winter I was prepared for the worst this year, but am pleasantly surprised. Last year I worried if my buds were ever going to emerge. This year I’ll probably be concerned about them coming out too soon and getting frostbitten. Always something!
The picture taken in December 2015 contains the appropriate colors. The white of my bark to match the snow and the green of the winter wheat to remind us of the hope of spring, when it and all growing things will experience the miracle of new life. It’s well into February so can spring be far away?
Apparently the inches of snow that fall during any winter is of concern to humans. I’ve heard there are even contests between cities to see which one accumulates the most snow. Why do that for something most folks don’t want? I really don’t care how deep it gets around me. I do recall that some of my former farm owners often described snow as the “poor farmer’s fertilizer” because they believed it helped enrich the soil to grow better crops. For my part, it smelled much better than the other fertilizer they spread around me.
Oh yes, since you haven’t heard from me for quite a while I’d best remind you I am the Sycamore tree standing in the middle of a farm field on the east side of Union Street about one half mile north of Spencerport. I’ll keep a limb out for you.
Editor’s note: When this installment of “Tree Talk” was written earlier in February, snowfall in the area was dramatically below normal. “Tree Talk” is a series of more than a dozen reflections on life written by Joe Reinschmidt who gives a ‘voice’ to an old sycamore located in an open field on the east side of Route 259 north of Spencerport’s Terry Taylor Elementary School.
