Hangers On

We have this tree in our front yard. I believe it's a plum tree, because every year it produces two itty bitty plums which - as soon as they are ripe - are attacked by squirrels. I find them, on the ground, purple and lovely...and missing one little squirrel-sized bite. Two years in a row.

Those squirrels - they don't pull any punches.

Lo Gung is convinced the tree is dead. And it is. Mostly. Do you see that bit of greenery on the right hand side? There are two branches that are still living - those are the ones that produce fruit. The rest of the branches are slowly being shorn off by wind storms and ice storms, in turn.

Upon closer inspection, I realized that those two branches weren't the only living thing on this tree. There was also a healthy lichen family, and all its extended kin, living on the dead branches. There is also one obstinate little pine growing out of a knot near the base of the trunk.

Something about this tree spoke to me this year. As the leaves all around me were changing, and the weather is getting decidedly nippy, this tree always looks so fitting. So spooky. We hung a little family of ghouls in the dead branches last year, and watched them swinging in the breeze. The tree looks so dead, and yet it has so much life. The majority of the tree is crispy and lifeless and useless to itself, but yet gives nutrients to other organisms so that they can grow and thrive.

You can draw your own conclusions. Happy Fall, y'all.