I spend a lot of time enjoying the view from the top of The Hill. I like to pay special attention to those times between the seasons. The days just prior to the snowy season are especially attractive. Everything looks so fresh and clean. Three months from now it will all show wear from the winter’s snow and ice.
The hilltop prairie is looking particularly lush this year. The extra rain allowed all of the grasses to put on a little extra height. Hawks spend a lot of time hunting for voles in this field. The voles will have a little bit of extra cover this winter, but I doubt if that will protect them from the hawks.
There are usually not many noticeable changes from year to year. I’d be worried if the woods showed much of a change. That would be a sign of some catastrophe. The biggest change in the woods over the past 20 years has been the emergence of single trees that have outgrown their neighbors and pushed up above the surrounding canopy.
Tuliptrees continue to proclaim their dominance over the cedars. The Tuliptree trunks are almost unnoticeable when you are on the ground beneath the cedars. The trunks have no branches until the tree breaks into the sunlight. Each year, the Tuliptree crown spreads a little farther and increases the amount of shade thrown on the cedars. The cedars will be the eventual losers in the struggle, but that event is still decades into the future.
The early morning sun makes the Indian Grass glow. I never tire of this view and enjoy the field in all of its various developmental stages.
I spend a lot of time enjoying the view from the top of The Hill. I like to pay special attention to those times between the seasons. The days just prior to the snowy season are especially attractive. Everything looks so fresh and clean. Three months from now it will all show wear from the winter’s snow and ice.
The hilltop prairie is looking particularly lush this year. The extra rain allowed all of the grasses to put on a little extra height. Hawks spend a lot of time hunting for voles in this field. The voles will have a little bit of extra cover this winter, but I doubt if that will protect them from the hawks.
There are usually not many noticeable changes from year to year. I’d be worried if the woods showed much of a change. That would be a sign of some catastrophe. The biggest change in the woods over the past 20 years has been the emergence of single trees that have outgrown their neighbors and pushed up above the surrounding canopy.
Tuliptrees continue to proclaim their dominance over the cedars. The Tuliptree trunks are almost unnoticeable when you are on the ground beneath the cedars. The trunks have no branches until the tree breaks into the sunlight. Each year, the Tuliptree crown spreads a little farther and increases the amount of shade thrown on the cedars. The cedars will be the eventual losers in the struggle, but that event is still decades into the future.
The early morning sun makes the Indian Grass glow. I never tire of this view and enjoy the field in all of its various developmental stages. 
Lovely. I am sure it will be very pretty when covered with snow, too.
ReplyDeletegreat view, Steve , we are lucky to be in the country. someday our farm will have such a view , but its gonna be alot of work.
ReplyDeleteHi Lois. It is pretty when it's covered with snow. A day or two of such beauty is about right.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure you'll get there Mike. Remember that I've got about a 20 year head start on you.