Hackberry Bark

Hackberry bark.

And the Lord will continually guide you,

And satisfy your desire in scorched places,

And give strength to your bones;

And you will be like a watered garden,

and like a spring of water.

Isaiah 58:11

Wolf Tree in Younger Forest

Hiking among the rocks we enjoyed the winter woods that blocked the cold wind blowing.

In our hike the other day ( December 16th 2014)  we came across this larger Chinquapin Oak. We measured it because it was larger than the other trees in this forest.

Circumference of 135.25 "

Height of 100.5 '

and a Canopy of 68 ' and 61 '

Total points of: 227

This tree will be easy to find because it is not far in the woods after a clearing as we walk on a chip seal gravel trail. The day was windy and 30 degrees and overcast. The tree sort of resembles a wolf tree. This tree may have been in an open field and then the woods were allowed to grow up later.

Lord let there be a place for people to grow in their knowledge of you, among the mature Christians who understand how to nurture others in their Christian walk.

Mocking Bird

Saw this Mocking bird on a cold December day. A sign of life in the brush.

Lord let us be alive in the midst of hardship like this Mocking bird. 

Large Cottonwood

We measured this large E. Cottonwood tree today.

Circumference: 20' 5" I measured above the burl, which was 6' high.

Height: 109'

Canopy 75

Giving a total point value of 373.

Notice the tape is not level, but you want to measure it as the stem of the tree leans.

The large burl hindered my measuring at the correct height or 4' 6". But this tree has some history. The tree may have been 2 trees and then grew into one tree. There is a crack in the bole of the tree that may break away at some point.

I had just brought my 50 mm lens and could not get a clear shot of the tree with it. Therefore the stitching. Such a gloomy day would not make for much of a good photo. The 50 mm lesns has more settings to adjust for low light and that is why I brought it. I really enjoy my wide angle lens, which I failed to bring with me. It gives me a lot of latitude in where I could take a photo from. But I didn't think there was any hope of taking any half way decent photo.

Jill, my wife was worried about me falling in the river. There was a lot of room to get around the tree. I wasn't worried at all.

Ash Sapling

Hiking along a trail Friday there were many Ash saplings along the edge of the trail. These were probably Green Ash.

Speaking of Jesus in the future; "A bruised reed he will not break. And a dimly burning wick H will not extinguish. He will faithfully bring forth justice. Isaiah 42:3

Red Wild Flower

"If you give yourself to the hungry 

and satisfy the desire of the afflicted, 

Then you light will rise in darkness 

and your gloom will become like midday."

Isaiah 58:10

Wild Flower

Common Mullein

The Common Mullein has dried up. Looking forward to next year.

Isaiah 40:8 "The grass withers, the flower fades,
But the word of our God stands forever."

Grape Vine

This vine starts near the tree and ends up in the branches.

Don't let problems spring up near you. Root out the problems before they get into your life.

Micah 5:14 "I will root out your Asheirm from among you,
and destroy your cities."

American Sycamore Root Foot print

Notice the large base the roots are making.

The circumference on this tree is 167 3/4" which is 53 in diameter.

Jeremiah 17:8

"For he will be like a tree planted by the water, That extends its roots by a stream And will not fear when the heat comes; But its leaves will be green, And it will not be anxious in a year of drought Nor cease to yield fruit."

Ash Tree

Here is an ash tree still unaffected by the dreaded emerald ash borer. I am using this tree as a guide to locate my plot of Persimmon trees that I will be looking at in the future. I will also watch the growth and health of this tree.

The tree has measurements of:

height - 47'

circuference - 31.375"

Canopy - 31' 33'

Total points - 86

Jeremiah 6:1

"Flee for safety, O sons of Benjamin, From the midst of Jerusalem! Now blow a trumpet in Tekoa And raise a signal over Beth-haccerem; For evil looks down from the north, And a great destruction."

Woods Trail

Hiking Friday brought expectation to us as we were looking for an old Persimmon trees patch. Hiking is a wonderful way to enjoy life and nature. As we hiked, not only were we looking forward to getting to the Persimmon, but we also were enjoying just being out in nature.

Psalm 25:10 "All the paths of the Lord are lovingkindness and truth To those who keep His covenant and His testimonies."

CALICO ASTER

Saturday's hike brought us to the woods edge where we encountered Calico Aster wild flower. The above photo shows them growing along the ground and close ups below.

Song of Solomon 2:12

"The flowers have already appeared in the land; The time has arrived for pruning the vines, And the voice of the turtledove has been heard in our land."

Persimmon Fruit

These fruit are Persimmon. They taste good when ripe. But really bitter before.

Isaiah 16:9

"Therefore I will weep bitterly for Jazer, for the vine of Sibmah; I will drench you with my tears, O Heshbon and Elealeh; For the shouting over your summer fruits and your harvest has fallen away."

Blue Jay

On our hike Friday there were a lot of Blue Jays flying back and forth. This one landed on top of this tree about 75 yards away. I got the photo with my  Canon EF 75-300 4.5 - 5.6 III zoom lens. I under exposed it 2/3 of a stop. Setting it on Aperture priority.   

Canon EOS Rebel T3

f/8 1/800 ISO-100 300mm -0.7 step

John 1:3 "All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being."

Colossians 1:17 "He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together."

Hebrews 1:3 "And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power. When He had made purification of sins. He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high."

Tree Stem Butt Rot

Here are 2 healthy trees that I will watch to see if the exposed parts of the stems of these trees will cause them to be in distress. Currently there seems to be no problems at all.

This Bitternut Hickory seems to have some butt rot in the base of the tree. 

Here the E. Cottonwood tree seems to have grown together at the base and further up the stem of the tree. Why was there a gap in the middle? Why did the tree wait to grow together further up the stem?

This tree does not seem to have the problem the Bitternut Hickory has. There is not as much decay happening with this tree.

Slippery Elm

Shingle Oak Remeasured

Photos taken the 26th of May 2014.



Shooting up the bole of this tree you can see the scars of old branches that grew in the past.



Photo of the tree in October 2010

 2014 Measurements
height 87'
 canopy 66' 56'
Circumference 101.25"
Total points of 203.5

 Oct 7 2010 measurement:
 height 83'
Canopy 63' one way and 67' the other
Circumference 95.5
Total points of 194.6

Height increased 5% Circumference increase 6% in 3 1/2 growing seasons.

There is a E Cottonwood tree encroaching from the left side of the photo. Notice the Shingle oak top growth is growing away from that tree.

Psalm 97:6 "The heavens declare His righteousness,
And all the peoples have seen His glory.

Sumac

Purple Martin

These Purple Martin houses are set up by the Missouri River.



This was fun to shoot. This bird is bring food to her youngsters. Photos taken the 20th of July.

Chuck's Purple Martin Page has some great info.

Also look at the Purple Martin Assn.

Grass Contrast

Contrast of grass between August and March.

The August photo was taken a day after a 3" rain.

Conk Growth on Dead Log

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Black Cherry

When I came upon this tree I noticed the black cherries. Yet many times these are not there. There also is other ID's of this tree that help you.

The wood of Black cherry is second only to Black walnut in value of furniture or paneling.  The problem of Black cherry as you can see by this tree there are not many large trees that have commercial value. Because of this it would be hard to sell these trees.

The bark I photographed here was not prevalent on the whole tree. I found this one spot that had the ID of horizontal lenticles that are characteristic of this species.