TREE WATCHER'S POST FOR OCTOBER - MAGNOLIA

As the year winds down towards winter, the days seem to go faster and faster, just as the yarn at the end of a ball disappears quickly. Flowers we enjoy in the summer begin to fade away as the sap in trees begins to fall, causing the leaves to turn color and float to the ground. Nature prepares her kingdom for its long hibernation.

We all experience it in some way. Looking up into my Magnolia tree, I still see groups of yellow leaves, as was reported in September. Most of her summer clothing of green is still there, however. Some of the leaves have already fallen to the ground and dried up.

The blueberry bushes have already bid farewell the exodus of summer by showing their brightest red Autumn colors.

Even the Fuschas are beginning to loose the color in their leaves, but so far have refused to let go of their beautiful, trumpeting blooms.

Two unknown "weed trees" are covered with brightly colored berries, which are falling to the ground in great numbers. The first one was in my August post when the berries were still green. The second one, a different kind of "weed tree" is also turning color and displaying red berries, although not as numerous as the first one.

This is the second "weed." As you can see, the leaves are different.

And so, music comes from the trees in many different ways. Beneath the Magnolia tree, my instruments, made from other trees, lean against the trunk.

They sing songs of beauty as well as of sorrow, of a love gone with no goodbye, as the days grow shorter and the nights grow longer in darkness.