Spring - I never tire of it!!

I took these photos about 2 weeks ago, and I'll take more soon. This stage of each spring is just fascinating to me, though - the very beginning of everything becoming new again! Even though we had a very mild winter, these are still wonderful to see.

This is the oak that doesn't lose its leaves in fall. Its leaves all turn a pretty reddish-brown and then brown, and then they hang on the tree all winter! The first year I lived here, I thought I had killed it! But this is what it looks like when the new leaves begin to show - pushing out the old brown ones. It'll become very thick and green, of course. It's a fantastic tree.

Here's where all that yellow pollen (dust) comes from - and with so many of these pines all over the area, in the forests and in yards, the yellow dust gets everywhere!

This gap, just to the left of the sego palm there, is where I lost a tree last year. No matter what I did, no matter how much extra water I gave it - I lost it. When the guys were taking it down, I could see that it didn't stand a chance. The inside was hollow and rotted - no amount of water could have saved it.

And here's that oak tree again, the same tree as in the 2nd photo above. Four days later, and what a difference! Those leaves come in fast when they decide to come in!!