girl in a red coat

girl in a red coat

reading under an oak tree –

harbinger of spring

In the last days of winter, the colors are mostly drab browns, muted grays, dull yellows. Along the trail around the lake, the only spots of brightness are white shelf mushrooms on fallen logs and rust-orange needles under the white pines. In the little park the sight of a young lady in a red coat with a red notebook and red water bottle pops out from the monotone landscape. Sitting with her back against one of the large oaks, she is enjoying the charms of fresh air, sunshine and reading.

illusion of face

illusion of face

or illusion of tree bole –

do you see them both?

I always look for this face on one of the many a buckeye trees that grow in a flat area between hill and creek. Many trees have tree boles, some formed when bark grows over a broken branch, others caused by some kind of insect infestation. This one is very large and so old that it is so disintegrated that it looks like a skeleton's skull. After a snowstorm, it looks almost jaunty, topped by a white cap.