A short walk and a tall pine

A friendly giant lives in the woods.   

Tuesday mornings walk took us up to the west end of the dirt road.  It was a very quiet morning after yesterday's tumultuous passing of a very large thunderstorm.  Fortunately the brunt of the storm passed north of Grand Bay.   We did receive a small amount of rain which was appreciated by all gardeners in my area. On our way up to the end of the road we passed a gigantic pine tree standing right on the edge of the road.  I stopped to ponder this tree as it was so much taller than all the others around it.  The tops of the surrounding trees were probably 40 to 50 feet up but the pine soared another 30 feet above them.  It's top was in the morning sun long before the shorter trees ever felt the first rays. I would imagine the tree is 40 to 50 years old judging by it's height.  Pines here in the south can grow very quickly and reach tremendous heights in a relatively short period.  All of the limbs on these pine trees are growing near the top which gives them a good bit of protection from a fire that may be burning far below in the under-story.  I pass this tree often when we walk this way and I always look up in awe of it.

Head south here for a cool swim. 

  Once the dog and I reached the end of the road I took a look down south on the paved road.  When we want to go to the creek where the dog likes to swim we head south on this road for about 1.5 miles or so.   It makes for a long walk for both of us because this highway is dangerous.   The dog must remain on his leash which he does not like at  all and he pulls me along which is very wearing to someone who likes to amble like I do.

Idyllic prospect is only recent.

  We headed back home from  and I stopped and took a look and a piece of land I rarely ever look at.  It is directly across from the Yellow Jacket hive so most of the time I am looking in that direction.  I climbed up behind the brush and the prospect  was very nice.  The land falls away to a drainage at the bottom.  There are pines and short cogongrass growing in the field.  The present appearance is only recent though.  The owner had the land which was very overgrown cleared about 5 years ago.  He told me that the way it looks now is the way it looked when he was a kid working at his Dad's pig farm  some 50 years ago.  I guess the more things change the more they stay the same for some people.   Thanks for reading my blog.  I hope you have a good day.  Bye.