Note for the Granddaughters -- Nothing About the Bakken

Starting to feel a bit like autumn. The older granddaughter wanted to go down to the local park and identify the trees. We both share the same climbing tree; it is a perfect tree for climbing. It almost looks like the trunk was buried in accumulated leaves over the years, because the branching begins literally at ground level. It is THE easiest tree to climb. During the summer we can spend hours in the tree, and no one notices us as we look down on them. Even during the winter, with most of the foliage gone, most folks do not notice us until dogs start barking "at the tree."

So, we climb the tree, find a place to lay back and then read. I'm reading The Whale by Philip Hoare.

The older granddaughter took a tree identification book with her.

Our favorite tree is a beech. She is wearing a helmet because we rode our bikes.

Then, off to identify the trees. Then a most interesting phenomenon (see picture below). This was not atypical in the park: a conifer growing practically out of the trunk of a black oak. She noticed it first. She was trying to decide what kind of conifer it was. She settled on juniper, not a Douglas fir, based on the leaves/needles.

One can see the conifer, a juniper (?) practically arising from the same trunk system as the black oak. Arianna was inspecting quarter-inch black beetles hibernating in the grooves of the bark. I don't know "my" bark beetles, but these certainly suggest bark beetles. Smile.