2-23-2012- things are looking up 

        trees are quite versatile left to their own nature , quite content to send their tentacles as necessary to find food and nutrients in the most inhospitable of environments. along  a stone cliff edging its way into cracks , seeking out nourishment with its silky filaments in the tiniest of places.working their way into pipes and meshing down the cylindrical contours , till eventually they become a mass so thick nothing can get through them. i have seen them grow in walls , in sidewalks , in pavement. our roads would take no time to be destroyed by trees if left unatteded in no time. in fact i believe trees might grow in road faster than in open sometimes. this could be due to the trapped moisture and ideal lateral movement of root system in gravel subbase of roads. 

      in new mexico while i was visiting there i happened on the old city airfield in roswell , . it wasn't the one they brought the aliens to after the ufo crash but another close by that had been discontinued after the air force moved out of their base. what amazed me was how quick the desert grasses and trees regained tarmac areas around the runways of the old airport. dry arid conditions are commonplace for this desert town . but  in spite of the 110 degree days and nearly 10 percent humidity , that in the cracks of the tarmac where water would lay from rain runoff . water would enter along with seed and soil. trees were beginning to find their way out of the tarmac with robust style in  a region so dry. in fact the trees that were in area of tarmac were doing better than trees in desert. the pavement allowed the water to not evaporate but remain trapped underneath in gravel base . with the sun the trees were doing great. the tree in the picture above was created by another wrapping around it. the tree that is around the other is dependent on other tree for support and is competing with it. eventully the tree wrapping around will win , choking off same tree it is using. the bottom picture is a typical new mexico scene , notice the lack of trees or anything. this is different than in city and places that were paved and allowed to return to nature.

     we can use trees for windbreaks and to protect easily eroded soils . these pine trees planted in close proximity to each other will grow tall and straight allowing very little light to penetrate the forest floor. this along with the high acidity reduces noxious weeds and brush that may occur in other less pine forests.

         maple trees are synonymous with maple syrup production which involves inserting a spiked spout into a drilled hole in side of the tree to allow the sugar water to flow in springtime. this sap water is collected and boiled down to make syrup at about 50 gallons of sap to 1 gallon of syrup. further refining would reveal a natural sugar.

       and sometimes people do things like build a house around a tree , and sometimes it goes wrong . at one point i'm sure they thought this was a great idea , but now . well i drove by this place the last time i was in new york and they had removed the tree from the house . but felt as though they should just as well have taken both out as the tree was dead and the house knocked off foundation. a real no win situation. that would give you the creeps in a tornado wouldn't it?
       faced with adversity trees have been known to survive and thrive . to see the new seedling sprout after a forest fire or an apple tree grow from a broken down old limb of another tree. they adjust themselves to conform to nature , growing close to the ground to conserve moisture in arid regions , and growing tall in warm moist regions . if only we were as resilient as the mighty oak which will bend but doesn't break when the wind blows.
       i have reached one sixth of my goal to write daily in my blog . i have produced sixty different blogs and have only begun to tell some stories and keep you the readers interested in following along. thank you for your patience and yesterday was my all time high reader count. would be happy with only 1 reader. but would still be wondering what i was doing wrong. this is  more to teach me a lesson than anything. something about old dogs and new tricks has a lot to do with it and maybe one more check off on bucket list.  i have learned many so far and have a long way to go. your response would be deeply appreciated and will pass along an email where you may contact me directly and not have your comments published with out your permission. my alternate email  address is kdavis3051@gmail .com. your comments will be deeply appreciated , and kept with strictest confidentiality.