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The Leafless Time

A lone tree by the shore at Harkness Memorial State Park

Harkness Memorial State Park, Waterford, CT, March 2017

In case you haven’t noticed, we in New England spend half of each year without leaves. This allows for countless opportunities to appreciate the moody grace of our trees. Here’s one, for instance, overlooking the churlish waves of Long Island Sound. Note, too, how nicely it compliments the leaden sky and dingy, dormant grass.

Gloomy? Of course. But it’s the kind of gloom that inspires and transports. I’m reminded that Heathcliff’s name was a combination of heath (the habitat), and cliff (a precipice), as if he were a dangerous element of the wild himself. Much as we might like to ignore nature sometimes, we can’t separate ourselves from it. Instead, we learn to pine here, and to endure, and to laugh at small, warm things, like turning our backs to the wind.

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