After The Freeze

I can’t get over how weird the weather has been. Apparently my maple feels the same. After days of below freezing temps there are still healthy green leaves deep in the tree. The usual bright red of fall that then changes to orange, again, still healthy. Then you have all the leaves that sit farthest from the trunk and haven’t been as protected. All of those are in this weird state of “freezer burned” shock, the leaves a funky, splotchy pale color. They are already curing along the edges and turning brittle, but they aren’t falling off yet. Looking at the tree as a whole, it is pretty, but sadly wrong at the same time.

Several years ago, we stayed warm deep into the fall and the leaves took forever to fall. We had to wait a couple weeks to put up our holiday lights on that tree because of it. When we got the really early hard freeze that lasted days, I thought for sure they’d all be on the ground by now, but they are stubbornly hanging on, probably wondering the same thing I am. What the hell?