Chase and Will went and looked at their dad's land in Bastrop last Christmas, but that's the only time any of us had been out there since the fire. This weekend we packed snacks and went out to explore.
Most of the tallest pines are gone, of course, but many of the ones that are left are showing some signs of life. The twisty trunked post oaks look so strange out of their forest context, now that you can't see the pattern of shade and sunlight they were trying to navigate. I guess for a while the oak trees will get to grow straight up.
Everything on the ground level seemed pretty thrilled about all the rain we've had lately. Lots and lots of beautiful mushrooms.
Benjamin found some Beauty Berries, and had fun finger painting with them...
Not much nutritional content, but not poisonous either.
The soil on the land is sand on top of clay -- with all the brush burned out, and the shade gone, it looks like erosion is taking a toll with all the rain. The cut through the land seems deeper, and (gasp) is actually full of water. That was very exciting for Bear.
We counted the rings on the old trees and thought about what was happening in the world when this 100 year old pine had a great few years back in the mid 60s.
And we were excited to see, every now and then, a tiny new pine tree -- poking up through the sand.
The bones of recovery are visible, but the devastation is still obviously the most evident thing about the land. The next time we go I'd like to bring a 50lb bag of piney woods wildflower seeds... see if we could shift that balance a little bit.
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