June has arrived, and most people up north are experiencing warmer and longer sunny days. Now, I can share without feeling badly that it has felt like summer here since early April. There were some days not too long ago, even in May, when it was near 90 degrees here, but only in the high 50s up in New Jersey, my home state. I would almost feel guilty about the fact that it was often too warm for yard work.

When Rich passed, I was living in coastal Southeast Georgia and had acclimated to the much longer warm season there. I’d considered returning north, but the prospect of wintering again didn’t appeal to me although I do miss the summer at the Jersey Shore. Instead I headed two hours south to rural Old Florida.

One thing I love about living here is that I can spend so much time outdoors, and for the most part, if the winter is typically mild (unlike last very year’s very cold January), the growing season is so long. I’ve enjoyed learning about native trees and I love living in an area that has so many semi-tropical varieties. In so many places, however, too many trees are being destroyed and I think if people truly understood how important they are to the environment more concern would be evident and clear cutting would stop. 

The woods behind my home in Georgia were nearly totally razed last year. In there place a berm, fencing and a new development emerged. It completely transformed my backyard in a way that is still upsetsetting, and I haven’t shared much about. Just like the circumstances surrounding the loss of my husband, I had no control over what was going on with my immediate surroundings. I’m thankful that my home in rural Florida is for now at least a peaceful haven. 

We have had several old trees removed in the past two years. Live oaks of an estimated age of 350 years can become destructive. After soaking rains, we can hear trees snapping and the thuds of falling branches in the surrounding forest. 

The trees removed from this property have been replaced by other trees, Cabbage and Queen Palms have been trimmed for new growth and by removing limbs from the live oaks, other trees can flourish. 

During last winter’s “Florida Freeze” so many trees and plants seemed to succumb to the cold. Come March, the yard looked like death warmed over. But, local tree and garden experts advised to be patient as they said that many plant life would soon revive. They were right. Plants and trees that looked totally hopeless began to regenerate in ways I didn’t think possible.  

One of my favorite trees on this property is a singular Maple that despite its trunk being literally “see through” it seems to carry on, despite its core being eroded. I guess there’s a lesson in resilience, or “tree-silience” to be found in this small one acre patch of natural beauty. From the compromised, yet thriving Maple, to the presumed dead plants and trees that are emerging strong and healthy as ever. 

 

Enjoy these last two weeks of spring. Summer will be here before we know it and with it, hopefully a sense of revival through resilience.