Having grown up totally in the Southern Hemisphere, the fact that ALL the leaves drop off the MAJORITY of the trees here for up to 5 months was really quite a culture shock for me. It all looked so drab and dead. How could these trees possibly come back to life? I had a bad case of "homesickness" every winter, longing for trees with leaves.
Eucalyptus trees (which is what I was used to) loose their leaves throughout the year, at the same time that new ones are growing. There are no times when native Australian trees are standing there doing the "I am a dead tree" act. Sometimes I used to look out and think I had lost my ability to see colors. However, after 10 years residence in the Mid South of America, I can now see the beauty in the winter grey forms of a cypress break (group of American Bald Cypress trees in a bayou). I have attempted to capture this with my handy dandy digital camera.
When you pause to look closer there are actually lots of colors. Notice the green moss on the trees (I must be taking the photo from the south, right?). Or better still, notice the chewed off sections of cypress tree base about 1/3 of the way into the photo from the right (beavers). The tree branches in the foreground are actually a weathered copper color, and there is a Live Oak tree in the background which still has it's light brown leaves on. Looks like a watercolor waiting to happen right!
So next time you look out at a drab winter landscape, search for the colors that are actually there right under your nose! Same goes for life I suppose!
Aussie Kim
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