The big, lone hemlock towers above the south lawn at a good 75 feet plus in height. It is one-sided, having lost its twin which stood about five feet to the north some years ago, and during the winter it looks quite thin indeed.  But not in the summer, it gets additional leaves in the summer…. For most of its height, and on many of its branches it is covered in woodbine (Virginia Creeper). In the fall the entire north side of the tree is red. The woodbine vines at ground level are nearly two inches in diameter.

Woodbine blooms in late July here, hundreds upon hundreds, perhaps thousands, of tiny flowers.  So I wasn’t too surprised when I walked under the tree the other day, I knew what I was hearing.  The low, barely audible hum, almost as if there was a distant generator running somewhere. The same sort of smooth, constant hum one associates with transformers or big power-lines.  But only audible directly beneath the tree, step out from underneath and you can no longer hear it.  The entire tree must be loaded with every sort of bee imaginable. The birds abandon the tree for a few days, not surprisingly! They’ll be back and in the late fall will have direct access to the biggest bird-feeder imaginable.