I have been walking around the woods looking for yet undiscovered vernal pools and the salamanders and frogs that inhabit them. No such luck today...
So, I head off to see an old friend -- an American Sycamore (Platanus occidentalis). I have visited this tree many times before. Maybe to gaze upon its beautiful bark -- large silver-gray flakes peeling away to reveal soft-white and tan-brown underbarks. Maybe it is to find last years hand-sized leaves, now pancake-brown, dry and crunchy. Maybe it is to find a seed pod lying on the soft moss. Maybe it is something else...
I have only "known" two American Sycamores in my life. Seeing this one reminds me of the other -- a massive tree that shaded my backyard growing up. Standing next to this one conjures up memories -- good and bad -- of my childhood. Trees have a way of doing that...
