Thanksgiving in the North
Posted: December 5, 2022 Filed under: Gardening | Tags: deer, Milkweed, nature photography, Princess Pine, trailing pine, travel 12 Comments
This year we headed north for Thanksgiving and were greeted by snow and deer. As usual, I spend much of my time exploring nature while traveling.
The cold snap and snow motivated a squirrel to add leaves to its nest.
A few days later the snow melted and revealed Princess Pine in the woods. Princess Pine looks like a perfect little pine tree and is actually a club moss.
Lycopodium obscurum reproduces with spores and prefers acidic soils and shaded woodlands.
Milkweed was still sending off some seed “fairies”. The northern ones are much larger than the tropical Butterfly Weed I grow here.
Best of all I found some fossils.
We had to say goodbye to family and travel to the airport. As usual, we stopped at rest areas where the employees lovingly decorated their space to bring Christmas cheer to travelers. The elves were modified with tissue paper clothes and many wrapped gifts were under the tree.
A fireplace with a lace curtain repurposed for the mantle cover was created for Santa’s arrival.
The display was completed with paper and pencil to leave a note for Santa.
At the next stop, Mrs. Gingerbread was greeting everyone at the Ladies’ Room entrance, but Mr. Gingerbread was gone. Maybe he needed a bathroom break.
Soon it was time to fly back to the warm South and we took to the sky at the crack of dawn.
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It must have been nice to see some snow while you were there as well as the wildlife. 😃 The milkweed seedheads are pretty too.
Snow is great when you don’t live with it everyday.
Perfect for getting in the holiday spirit!
We also celebrated Christmas as my kids are with their in-laws this year. I feel like I’m done for the holidays.
Well at least the pressure is off and you can enjoy the essence of the season!
Nice trip, it looks like! You probably won’t see any snow in your garden anytime soon.
I am hoping for no freezes this year.
That club moss really caught my attention. I’ve never seen anything like that. I always think of mosses as being small and inconspicuous, except when they form a green carpet. Those fossils are really cool, too. I have a few I found in the hill country — clams and such. It always amazes me when I realize anew how much of our land used to be seabed.
The club mosses were over harvested for Christams wreaths and are now hard to find. That fossil was on a piece of what I believe to be slate and may have been brought to the site by people. Wish I had taken geology.
Gorgeous photos!! How exciting to see a fossil!!!!!
The fossil was a highlight.
Pretty Princess Pine, I have never seen one. My father was a geologist constantly finding fossils, that is a nice one.