Winter

It's the end of the year. Many of us are blanketed with a nice insulating cover of snow.  It's a quiet period of rest, a time of reflecting and recharging - all of which will lead to healthier limbs and more energy in the Spring.

This is the view from my kitchen window.

Carmen Miranda

Have mercy! I'm on holiday time and completely forgot about posting my Saturday tree post. It might have been the three bazillion hours I spent in the theater with Les Miserables yesterday.

I took this shot outside our community library after a good snowfall. It reminded me for all the world of Carmen Miranda -- Broadway actress/dancer/singer from the 40s-50s -- with her gorgeous signature headdresses.

Yes. That is how my mind works.

This is my last tree post of 2012.

See you in 2013.

Cheers!

Winter berries

This tree has clung to those two last berries for weeks. I love its tenacity.

Merry Christmas

I have a couple of parrots, one of whom likes to chew on everything in the house. I won't show you what she did to the fiberoptic tree last year or the pine cone wreath this year. One word sums it up - carnage.

At the Distillery District at the beginning of the month, I saw a booth with trees for sale. For every tree purchased, Trees Ontario would plant another one.  How could I resist.

This is my little tree - a white pine.  It's hiding in my office behind the laptop so that the little bird doesn't see it.

Christmas Frenzy...

Christmas Frenzy.

Taken at the Distillery District, Toronto, Ontario.

We spent an afternoon and evening at the Toronto Christmas Market being held there. If you're visiting Toronto next year during early December, put it on your list.

This was an unintended shot. Sometimes they're the best.

May you feel the joy of the season.

Cheers!

Otherworldly...

Michigander Sister took this shot Friday morning from a window overlooking her woods.

The hawk had been on the ground under her bird feeder pole with a mouse. When she lifted her Samsung Tablet to take the pic, he flew into the tree.

The delicate snow and near black and white exposure lend it an otherworldly quality, which I love.

Do click on it to see a much larger version.

Thanks, Sis, for letting me share your rockin' image here at The Daily Tree blog.

Cheers!

Royal Tree

It's a bit of a cheat because this tree is indoors but I had to pose in front of it when we were at Holyrood Castle. The crowns and lights were the only decorations.  Everything else would have been superfluous. 

Lakeside Park

Sunset at Lakeside Park last summer. Trees line the shoreline and it is perfect.

Stark beauty

I was thinking this weekend about the ache in my heart.  After much rumination, I realized that trees really do feed my soul. Sure they take take of the oxygen so that my brain is healthy but I'm sure I wouldn't survive long in a tree-less landscape.  They provide comfort with their beauty and steadfastness. They tether land and sky and remind me that there is so much more than we will ever understand.

Repurposed tree...

Repurposed tree, all glammed up with red bow.

Cheers!

Working trees...

 

This is the Fairytale Forest Maze down at the Distillery District in Toronto, Ontario. 

Working Trees!

Cheers.

Dunfermline

I really like the size and stature of this tree. Except on the day we met, I was trying to recreate an artist's sketch of the abbey that we have at home. There isn't a tree in the rendering.

There is in my version. I actually prefer it but not that day 

Sumac

 They've lost all their leaves. They look like alien pods

Not solitary at all

This little tree was surrounded by many older and wiser. I liked it a lot.

Shedding...

Do you know what this tree is? I don't. I do love the shedding of the bark and hope it isn't indicative of disease.

Snapped in Michigan in October.

Cheers!

Tree Tail...

First, I love the bark on this tree. It makes me think of zebras. And then, there's the tail. Win. Win.

Snapped in Michigan in October.

Cheers!

Muir Woods

This photo was taken by another friend of ours, KL, on her vacation.  Her husband is a fantastic photographer.  I love the play of light on the trees in the background.  It really makes the foreground tree pop.  I half expect to see fairies in there somewhere.

Another Japanese maple

This one looks like someone pruned the top off it.  It's very boxy tucked up against the library window.   Maybe they grow that way?

Tree from Pam

Our friend Pam hung halfway out of the car to take this fun photo of a tree along the Pacific Coast highway.  I like that other people are viewing the world through arbor-tinted eyes.

Single...

Seen in the wild in Gatineau Park, Hull, Quebec. This is one of my favorite parks, oft-visited in the autumn for the spectacular display of leafage.

Single.

Cheers!

Babysitting...

This was taken last April at High Park in Toronto, Ontario. Spanning 400 acres, it is part nature park and part recreational park.

Cheers!