Turns out evergreens (or more specifically white pine trees) are a messy species – which was news to my mother who grew up in a forest of such trees in northern New Mexico, albeit likely a different kind of pine trees. I base this solely on the folk lore that Sammy passed down to me since every time I’ve visited the cabin in the woods all I’ve seen are burnt sticks sticking up all across the valley. Granted, there are a number of green ones on our drive from LA up to the land – and a few short evergreens popping up here and there (but mostly gnawed on by deer or elk) not too mention a whole lot of aspens sprouting up just about everywhere there isn’t a pricker bush or oak shrub already in that spot.
Quick aside – we HATE pricker bushes. In fact, The Scribe has been authorized by grandfather to stomp on, cut down, rip out, (but not burn) any of these dastardly plants he comes across on any walks we are on. The not burn thing has something to do with a hundred foot radius around the house and shed and greenhouse – which has something apparently to do with the burnt sticks I previously mentioned.
But I digress. My point being, evergreens are a messy breed…maybe even more so than Zoe and all her fur (speaking of which, just this afternoon, mom broomed up two new dogs in the living room, dining room, and kitchen, followed by dad gathering another one in our screened in porch – that girl is something else!). Now, from my perspective, the mess that these trees makes is totally fine with me. In fact, I think the needles they drop are complementary to my coat:
OK. Maybe these aren’t the best pictures to capture how well I blend in with the dropped pine needles, but trust me on this…we are one in the same.
Now, Mom was totally in tune with the these thin brown droppings from these magnificent trees (I call them that not just because we match so well but because they keep reminding us through the cold dark, grey, winter months that the world is, or, that the world will be green again). And in a way, I guess (or hope), this is also true when we emerge from this pandemic. The EVERGREENs remind us that rebirth is always around the corner.
What they didn’t do was prepare us for the few days…maybe a week?…a number of weeks ago when they unleashed their Yellow Storm of what we learned later was pollen. When the onslaught first commenced, my parents thought someone was burning leaves or something – not that they smelled smoke (and to be honest, do they ever smell anything? For example, on our walks, Z and I will catch a scent and try to direct our walk in the direction of odor…but our parents drift off into never- never-land) – but because of the visually smoky nature of air around them. Wafts of pigmented air would swirl through the yard. A feeling of intense biological activity was present where ever we turned.
And then the dust settled…literally…on Zoe, on the porch, on the grill, on the headboard of the bed, on the floor, on the baseboards, and even in the puddles following a rain storm!
We had been caught in the Yellow Storm of pine tree pollination. And then the sore throats and stuffed ears and allergies began…Next year the windows will be shut until this is over!
Thus is life in the City in the Woods!
The Tempest
Montana Moments 