Thursday, November 20, 2008

November color...


In Maine, the November sky is often hammered pewter and the ground is shades of brown and beige. Hardwood trees reach bare branches into the cold air, the birds don't sing.
The temperature can vary between the 50's and below zero. Tonight will be the coldest night of the month so far, it could dip to 12 F.
On first glance the surroundings seem to be lacking color, a world in hibernation tones... but the evergreens that are plentiful here are still rich and vibrant... emeralds among the duns of late autumn. These trees that blend into the background during the warm months become the stars of the cold times. Sometimes I snip a branch or two and tuck them into old bottles with a single hot-house rose. The effect is surprising and fragrant.
Now is the time that Mainers go deep in the woods for "tipping." They cut tips off of the branches of evergreen trees to make wreaths and roping for the upcoming Christmas season. The woods are full of hunters in November... deer hunters, greens hunters and the hunters of the peace that a cold 11th month day can lend the soul.

1 comment:

Cottagecheap said...

If I didn't get a rash from all sorts of evergreens I would plant them in droves. In Indiana we have more deciduous trees than conifers and thus it is gray and dark this time of year. When the snow covers the ground it softens all that gray.