Oak Leaves and Snow

Winter’s icy grip

Grasps the marcescent oak leaves

Clinging for dear life.

~Lynn Amber

The oak trees on our property are not native to this precise location. They were born from acrons scooped up at a Pennsylvania rest stop many years ago – by my son Luke and I. We were enjoying a short road trip to my home state of PA and had stopped to take a break along the interstate. There were a variety of different species of oaks at the rest area and we indiscrimately gathered acorns from all over the ground.

I was home-schooling my son at the time and the acorn experiment became an impromtu science lesson. We planted the acorns back home in Vermont and watched them grow over the years. There is a mix of Red Oak, White Oak, and Chestnut Oak. My husband eventually dug them up from the temporary “nursery” where they were planted along the edge of the forest and dispersed them around the property. This is their story – a piece of Pennsylvania that we brought back to Vermont.