 |
| The trees on the left grow on a fence line that no longer exists. |
On Tuesday morning the big hand on the weather clock was moving back to cold again. The dog and I walked south on the dirt road to the Pig Farm with a strong north wind blowing behind us. The temperature had dropped from 60 degrees at midnight to 45 degrees when we left to go walking. The humidity was in the 80 percent range. The torn gray clouds blowing quickly to the south showed all the signs of clearing weather ahead in the day.
 |
The massive tree that stood for 50+
years is now firewood. |
As we walked down I stopped with the dog to look at a large Water Oak tree that has been cut to provide clearance for the power pole nearby. The tree was massive at nearly 3 foot at it's base.
 |
| Disease is a problem for Water Oaks in the south. |
The interior shows the dark areas which are signs of disease which eventually kills most Water Oaks in this area. The tree grew on a fence line that once existed along this road before the pecan orchard was planted. Before the orchard was planted the field was probably a pasture for cattle.
 |
The stump measures nearly 3
feet across |
Based on my discussions with the property owner and the man who planted the orchard, I would imagine that the tree was in the neighborhood of 50 to 60 years old. At one time I grew anxious when I saw trees being cut. I thought there would soon be none left and we would live in a desert. My research into the history of the trees in Grand Bay show that trees here grow so fast that if we did not manage the trees all of our cleared areas would be primordial forests in a little more than 100 years. You'll notice I wrote "manage the trees" not "cut all the trees down". We are to be stewards of the earth not consumers of it.
 |
| The Pig Farm road in fall. |
We continued on down the road to the Pig Farm where things are looking pretty sad for the Kudzu vines growing there.
 |
| The Pig Farm road in Summer. |
The frost has worked it's magic on the vines and they will decompose over the winter and allow all the understory plants to get fresh start in spring. It is such a change from summer that I have included a photo of the road in summer to show the difference in the seasons. The bleak scene is softened somewhat by the wild greens growing along the roadside. The feral pigs if they are in the area should be showing up soon. I look for their tracks in the red dirt of the road where they exit the woods. They may not be coming up out of the woods this year as there are no pecans for them to root for in the pecan orchard. If I see anything I will be sure to let you know. Thanks for reading my blog today. Stay warm. Bye.
