Heart Our Two Oaks

I positioned myself equidistant between two oak trees on our property this afternoon. The one above is a young tree, MrQ decided to save it even though it was sprouting too close to a block of glasshouses. The other is older but they're about the same height. See how the younger tree still has nearly all of its leaves, some of which are tinged with green. The older tree is nearly bare. Evidently some trees exhibit marcescence and hang onto their leaves until the spring when new buds form. All trees were evergreen in the past and marcescence is a remnant of that.

Lovely walk at Lodge Farm this afternoon. I photographed deer in the distance and a kestrel that seemed to be enjoying the stiff breeze as much as I was.

Today's poem is As I Walked Out One Evening by WH Auden. https://www.poets.org/poetsorg/poem/i-walked-out-one-evening

Written after Auden learnt that his partner Chester Kallman had been unfaithful. “Life remains a blessing” even though we cannot overcome mortality. The fleeting loves of life still matter, tragic though life is.