Fire and Ice

Posted by Earnest (Oklahoma, United States) on 26 March 2008 in Plant & Nature.

In this part of the country we suffer (enjoy) extremes of weather due to arctic, pacific, southwestern desert, and gulf air masses meeting and melding at various times. One day in late winter might bring floods and another might bring high winds and low humidity, or snow and ice. It's been a rough year for our old forests but it is what makes them what they are, tough, resilient. This juniper tree shows the effects of a recent fire (I managed to singe off some hair helping fight it) and the trees in the background show the effects of an ice storm. Junipers are a very invasive tree due to the suppression of natural fires in the crosstimbers. This particular one, though pretty with snow has probably seen its last day.

I hope you enjoyed the viewing... Have a great day!