Trees getting ready for winter

We’re rushing around, trying to get the trails cleared and ready for the snow, getting the firewood that we cut and split and stacked last spring into the shed, before it gets lost in the snow. It’s going to be a cold winter. You should see the size of our woodpile.

Our neighbours, the beavers, have been working away like crazy bringing in branches of birch and poplar, along with a little alder, maple, oak and even mountain ash. Their feed bed is growing larger by the day. A muskrat has moved under our dock, nibbling on his own branches and grassy water plants. The chickadees now wait in the treetops, anticipating the sunflower seeds we bring each morning.

Most impressive of the winter preparations are the trees and shrubs in the yard. A deciduous tree doesn’t just drop its leaves in the fall; it prepares the new growth for next spring, even before the first snows of November.

Take a wander outside this afternoon and take a close look. Examine one of the small branches. Look even closer at one of the tiny buds at the tip of a branch. What’s in that bud? Lots.

On red maples, there is a whole flower tucked into that tiny bud. Come spring, it just needs the warmth of a long sunny day to burst out and bloom. Pussy willows are all ready to pop out of their shells at the first hint of warm weather in spring.

Other trees are concealing fully formed leaves in their tiny time capsules. And this is just November. The trees are all ready for April, and here am I scrambling to be ready for December.

Actually, these little buds were formed last summer, even before the old leaves died off. The scale that covers the bud protects it from drying out in winter.

The amazing thing about these little buds is that they just sit there on the twigs for so long. The pussy willows will not pop out if the weather turns warm in December. If we get a thaw in February, the maple flowers tucked inside their protective covering won’t even take notice. The little buds on the aspens, birches, oaks and even the conifers spend over half the year just sitting on the twigs, waiting for another spring.

Some of the buds are quite tasty little things too. Just ask any grouse. With all the energy of flowers and leaves tucked into such a little space, these are highly nutritious little snacks. Remember that next time you are out skiing through the woods and thinking it’s time for a snack.

It is a pretty amazing world just outside our windows. We need to take time to have a closer look. Take time to marvel at the simplicity, and the complexity of nature. Remember that we are part of it, and it is part of us.

Viki Mather has been writing for Northern Life since the spring of 1984. During 2010, she takes us back to some of those older writings as she prepares to publish a book of “In the Bush.” This column was originally published in the autumn of 1987.