The River Birch in mid-December

The dogs wanted out since three in the morning. I took one on a leash. The others can wait.

Seven AM. Daylight. Dogs are out. I'm sittin on the porch with my Irish coffee. Cold but not windy. Comfortable enough. And I see the tips of our River Birch tree, tips of the twigs, They don't look like buds.

This is December. The thing's not growing now. I'm seein what'll be growing in the Spring.

Still not even light out yet. (Facing North West)

What are those tips? Here's a detail view:

A few minutes later, facing East

That's not one bud. It's a whole package. Follow the twig up from the bottom edge of the picture, you'll see a bud or two that do look like buds. Next year's twigs. Yeah, but not that stuff at the tip. That's next year's flowers or somethin. And by midsummer I'll find seedlings growing in my gutters.

The touch of white in that detail photo, that's probably frost. It was a cold morning.