Fragments From Floyd

A branch plucked from the path we walked yesterday shows the cursed Hemlock Wooly Adelgid still sucking the life from what eastern hemlocks still live in this valley--in the same manner by which they are wiping out this magnificent tree species from northeastern Georgia to southeastern Maine and west to eastern Tennessee. This is a forest tragedy mourned on this page often before, but I don't think I ever showed you the victim--perhaps my favorite evergreen species--and the unlikely white-cotton agents of decline. (Click image for enlarged view.)

This will be a light blogging week as we will be down visiting in the western mountains of North Carolina for a few days. Unfortunately during this time, the tile will be going down in the new room and we won't be around to oooh and ahhhh, angst or supervise. The dog will be at Puppy Camp, and by the time we get home, the grass will need mowing again. Yesterday--just yesterday--the tulip poplar leaves emerged, tiny folded replicas of their adult shapes, and the striped maple buds appeared like tiny clasped hands just before they spread like angel wings. I'll have to post again a favorite image of striped maple leaves at this stage from two years ago.

I'll check email from time to time (tapping into the wireless at Western Carolina U) but might not post again until the weekend. But then again, I have a couple of images stored up, so we'll see.