Winter's Promise

The snow deposited on the upper surfaces of the trees is what caught my eye. The storm that deposited this snow occurred several days ago. The cold stillness that followed the storm left the snow undisturbed. The bright sunshine could build no warmth to soften this snow. The picture is two days old. Most of the snow on the branches dropped today. The air temperature reached the mid twenties F and the sun managed to build some heat on the dark tree branches.

The sky was really that blue when the photo was taken. The cleanness of the polar air mass that descended upon us did have its positive points. A Catskill hike under an Arctic air mass has always intrigued me. The possible smog free views would be worth the effort. Risk vs reward must be considered. So far risk has been the controlling factor.

The red buds on the soft maple trees went unnoticed until we saw the picture. The buds are tightly closed but the red color of the maple flowers is clearly there. There is little local respect for the soft or swamp maple. The hard maple supplies the sap for maple syrup. Syrup can be made from the sap of the soft maple but the boil is longer because the sugar content is lower. Still the sap drips from a broken soft maple branch caught on an outstretched tongue are a late winter treat. It will not be long before the sap begins to move up the trees. The sap flow will be followed by the maple flowers. The promise will be kept.