All the leaves are brown, against the blue sky, and it’s obvious something hard came this way. The big oaks look weary. The leaves are burned, but oddly, none have fallen to the ground. That seems a good sign. Although, I image the spring molt will be a sight to see, and the leaves will probably be inches thick on the ground. I’m seeing the same sort of damage on the mountain laurels, as well, and the evergreen sumac and the rosemary. Here’s to a rejuvenating spring.

The crape myrtles look pretty much as they did before the storm, bare. As I was surveying them yesterday, I noticed two of them had little nests up high, most likely hummingbirds. I’ll have to watch this season to see if they return. This is the first time I have found a nest for the little birds who come to feed on our lantana and turks caps. We used to put out sugar water, but I think the natural food might be better and make for a healthier group of birds. It’s a good sign to me there are two nests in two trees.

I wish I knew how the trees were feeling internally. The weather is back to sunny and we got a high of 80 yesterday. Getting that week-long hard freeze must have felt traumatic, as though they’d been on a really promising date, where things felt warm and inviting, only to have it turn angry, cold, and frosty. If I were the trees, I’d have to think twice about letting my sap rise just because the days are warm again. A more prudent course would be to keep things underground, and hold off on the excitement until it was really, really clear the heat and sun were hear to stay.