The Forest for the Trees

The picture below was taken from an elevated walkway leading to an office building in Marietta, Georgia. I’m amazed at how tall and lush the forests here are, and how they maintain their density, even in the city.

Tall Trees
In Colorado, trees don’t grow anywhere close to this height, especially deciduous trees like these. Due to the lack of moisture and low air density, trees simply can’t grow this tall up there. To me, Georgia seems humid, though not unbearably so; everything’s green and vibrant. The people here, though, are desperate for rain, so this must be a comparatively dry Georgia summer.

Meanwhile, it looks like Colorado is going to have another tinderbox year, with several spring fires already torching thousands of acres.

Yesterday was the summer solstice, as my wonderful wife pointed out to me in an e-card this morning. Unfortunately, that means my home state is just beginning to reach its hot season.

That kind of gives a depressing meaning to the words “keep the home fires burning.”

Missing in Atlanta

Missing in Atlanta
(A Sonnette)

These Georgia pines obscure the waning moon,
Reminding me how far away from you
I am.  I wonder how I’ll make it through
The next ten days before the end of June.

I curl up on the edge of this king bed,
A pillow crackles underneath my head.
I clutch another, wish for you instead.

— Stace Johnson, 2006