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Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Changing Seasons

Every fall I wait for that first glimpse of the lake. The woods are so dense here we can't see it at all from May until the end of October. But slowly, leaf by leaf, I begin to see blue peek through until one day the leaves are all gone and our treehouse becomes a lakehouse!

This summer's heat and drought really has affected the color of the leaves this fall. We are lucky we got rain in August, so many trees were stressed and dropping leaves.

Mother Nature is amazing, to recover from weeks of scorching heat. The trees out our way are mostly oaks, poplars, walnuts and dogwoods.

There are Blackjack Oaks, White Oaks, Red Oaks, Pin Oaks, Post Oaks, Arkansas Oaks, Chinkapin Oaks... all on our land! If you google oaks you will see there are about 600 species across the world, all belong to the genus Quercus.

The dogwoods that dot the mountain are a crimson red in the fall. They love the shade of the dense woods and thrive. We just had an old one die this summer. Gnarled and missing many branches, the top had been broken out, most likely from ice or maybe a spring storm. It survived many winters until this summer's heat finally took it's toll.

All along the lake you see the bones of trees that have died. The Corp of Engineers requires us to leave them, they eventually fall and when the lake is at higher levels, it provides a place for fish to lay their eggs in the spring.




Rogers is an old town and in the historic district the streets are lined with beautiful old maples, my favorite. All shades of red, orange and golden yellow.

Great neighborhoods where kids ride bikes and people still set on their front porches.

I grew up in a house like this and sometimes I think I'd like to have an old house again. You get so much with an older home, not just the charm and craftsmanship of an era gone by. You get a house that owns it's land, it has a presence... a soul.


Wonderful old houses that say
"Welcome Home."

11 comments:

  1. You have some nice color there, here, not so much. Not many pretty maples around here. Nice pictures!

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  2. gosh those are awesome pics! I noticed the color coming home from Missouri was a lot better than the color going there - love that you appreciate your trees so much. : -)

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  3. you live in a wonderful area. full of beauty and heart. :)

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  4. What a great place to live....love the pitures.

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  5. Looks nothing like that close to me. You are lucky, indeed!

    About old houses... it's the old souls I worry about. And them not wanting me there. LOL!

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  6. Trees are one of my favorite things in life... and you already know how I feel about old homes.

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  7. You live in such a beautiful area. I love seeing your photos throughout the seasons.

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  8. Joycee
    The variety of trees you have in Arkansas are impressive. I think oaks are the one tree I miss most!
    It's looking so pretty there were you live now. I bet those leaves will be gone before you blink!
    Yes, I love those charming old homes too. I always wish the walls would talk and tell me the history of those who lived there!

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  9. I didn't realize you live like I do with seeing the lake only when the leaves fall. Don't you just love it? What lake is it that you have a view of? I grew up in both turn of the century houses and modern homes and I know what you mean. I have such fond memories of the old houses. I tend to reflect on them much more often than the newer ones.

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  10. Joycee, I have to agree with you about old houses... they DO own the land. I fall in love with old houses all over the country.
    This time of year is wondrous, but the beauty is so fleeting, it is good we can capture it with our cameras.

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  11. I can never get enough of the fall color I don't care who shoots the shot. It is true, once the leaves fall off, I can see through the woods of what I've been missing all summer. Golly, I think I might have neighbors back there! I agree, older homes, do have charm. I am drawn to them too.

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