June 30, 2007

GONE

Here is another aspect of the eagle pic from a two posts back. You can see him atop the old snag. But take a look at all the other trees.

Brown. Dead. White pines. All gone. The effects of the pine beetle march becoming quite apparent at this latitude now. It’s sad. I see the brittle carcasses with their tell-tales beetle scars under peeling bark on my walks each day — in the woods, and in my yard. I guess now we worry about a hot, dry summer and fires. But by the looks of things — summer may forget us here in the mountains altogether. With these past months of rain and cold, I was beginning to really look forward to some HEAT at the RWA conference in Dallas in a week.

Alas. They have rain. And storms. And flooding now. Or so I am told