The Golden Woods is gone

 This early December afternoon I went to the Woods to see the rapid changes. Over the last fortnight there has been a near simultaneous fall of all the canopy leaves elm, pecan, walnut, mulberry, Kentucky coffee tree, southern hackberry, post oak, cottonwood, green ash, red bud and others. With the newly bare canopy, it is interesting to see what green is left. The chittamwood trees holds their leaves late. The biggest bur oaks still have yellow and green leaves. A few exotic invasive species stand out. Bradford pear leaves are golden or red and the few individual young trees are like beacons in the late last light of day. Numerous young invasive Chinese pistache still hold their compound leaves, glowing burnt orange. Two or three Euonymus spindle trees are still fully green as are the climbing green Euonymus vines. Both are producing their 'bursting heart' fruit capsules with red seeds. There are many invasive green privet shrubs widely distributed, although most of these were top-killed in February and have only produced new green leaves in the lower 2-3 feet. The exotic Elaeagnus autumn olive shrubs have fared better. There are a half dozen hollies with evergreen leaves, and of course the native juniper evergreens. But the overall impression is now of a bare canopy, and a bare Woods. It is the time when the shape of the individual trees is most visible. In the summer, with the filled canopy, individual stems are lost in the riot of green. At sunset I paused a while and enjoyed looking up the stems of two or three old persimmons with their pebbly bark to the orange clouds overhead. The curving stem framed the glowing clouds above.