our lady of the southern pine forests

lady of pine forest, originally uploaded by sparakeet.

the south is under siege from pine beetles. the evidence can be seen throughout the southern appalachians,,,,the needleless sticks have shed their bark to expose a yellow core. the entry point for the beetle is the size of an aspirin and makes a dark hole. they weaken the tree from within and it falls victim to other parasites. you cant treat it. you can only identify the sick trees and cut them down and burn them. but even if you do cull the sick trees from the property, you can't stop the beetles from the neighbors or the rest of the forest from setting up shop again. virginia pines seem to be the most ravaged which is too bad because they are the giants of pines. a few of them tower over my place from across the creek and are sure to come down someday soon. the largest is filled with holes that woodpeckers have made to reach insects or build homes. that's a good part of an otherwise unhappy situation.

i cannot image a southern landscape without the beautiful pines! their cheerful evergreens are a refuge for eyes that tire of the stark linear hardwood beauties against a winter sky. i love the look of a carpet of fallen needles beneath my white pines. it is a place where i might lay and nap; the piney fragrance is the smell of home, its comforts and goodness. the browned fallen needles are a nice counterpoint to the greens of tall fescues and pink clovers, and defines the woodlot from the open field.

this has happened before. there used to be a pine that inhabited south georgia and north florida. it is called the loblolly pine and it is near extinction. i am hoping the remaining pines dont meet that same fate. i made this painting as a devotional to my forest....like an amulet, i make the prayer to protect my trees in the form of an image. other living things portrayed in our lady's dress is a trillium, a solomons seal, painters brush fungi, a grasshopper, and a butterfly. in the hem of her skirt i have put hemlock needles. bad news from the eastern part of the state: here comes hemlock blight. has a war been declared on evergreens? i can only hope that the winter is every bit as harsh as the almanac promises and kills off, or at least slows down, the beetle blitzkrieg.