In the Shade of the Sycamore

Sycamore shedding or sloughing, it's bark

We live in the shade of the sycamore.

It's leaves are large. It casts it's dead limbs on a weekly basis, making constant work for us.

 During the spring and early summer months it's home to several nesting birds and as the days pass, bark begins to slip and slough off from the thousands of limbs and branches the massive trunk exhibits.
 And during the early spring , the numerous seed or fruit balls of the tree are dispersed by the mighty March winds, appearing as snow flakes from a distance.  Oh, did I mention the leaves??  As much as I love Autumn and as beautiful that as it becomes during Fall , I simply dread what comes with it-yard work!

But it is during mid to late August, that the old sycamore tree grabs my attention and takes me back through time.  I remember the times that old tree greeted us as we came to see Grandaddy and Grandma. And the old white tire that used to surround the trunk, before the trunk "outgrew" it.  Or the time, when I was a kid, that it was pruned so well by Uncle Grover, I didn't think it would survive! Time will not allow me to tell of the numerous family reunions and picnics, in which that ol' shade tree has been the centerpiece.  With it's low hanging branches twisting in the breeze, as if they were waving at and inviting us to, come get out of the sun and rest here. 

Each August, as the days grow shorter, and the sun shrinks further in the southern sky, the shade of that towering tree begins to cast its expansive shadow over our home.


 My family now lives in the Shade of the Sycamore, and I am reminded of days gone by............

Photos by Mark E Cater