Through the Woods: A winter closeup

Recently a winter ice storm hit Southeast Missouri. During the night and into the following morning, light rain fell, while surface temperatures were slightly below freezing. The rain fell on cold tree limbs creating icicles. The ice weighed heavily upon the trees breaking many limbs. Power lines also took a huge hit, and thousands experienced electric outages.

Temperatures stayed below freezing for several days. Soon, a second winter storm developed and tracked across the area, dropping snow.

The photo I present here is one not often seen. It shows both the icicles and the snow clinging to the beautiful red berries of a deciduous holly.

This small tree is native to North America. Its berries are late winter food for birds, such as robins and cedar waxwings. A good friend sent me this photo with permission to use. She was sad to tell me that her deciduous holly had been split in half by the weight of the two storms.

Horrell is an artist and outdoorsman. He lives in Chaffee. He owns Painted Wren Art Gallery in Cape Girardeau.