Tree Art...

Before long, we will be celebrating Summer's official departure and celebrate the much anticipated return of autumn.  I am so looking forward to the cooler temperatures, the rich color changes of the flora, and the inherent mood of mystery that the season carries within.  I took one of my strolls to the corner in the usual humidity laden air, and my mind was on thoughts of autumn.

I walked my usual route down the sidewalk that skirts the parking places in front of the buildings.  At about my halfway point to the condo entrance, I passed some trees I always pass on my walks.  This time, however, they had changed in a way that made me stop and take a closer look.

I am not sure what type of trees they are.  I want to say that they are cyprus trees, but I haven't confirmed it yet.  They are currently shedding...I don't want to call it bark, but I suppose that's technically what it is.  It looks more like a dry layer of skin sloughing off in sections.

The textures and colors are what grabbed my attention.  Like works of abstract art.  In the slowly waning light of the afternoon, sections of the clustered tree trunks looked like rich oil paintings.  As I say in most of my posts containing my photographs, I don't really use a flash as I prefer natural light.  I snapped several pictures without a flash, and they just weren't capturing what I was seeing to my satisfaction.  My inability to hold the camera still wasn't helping matters.  I decided to bite the bullet and turn my flash on. I am very happy with the results.

I had decided to continue on my walk when I made a snap decision to take a few more photos.  At the base of one of the tree groupings I hadn't focused much attention on, I found this cicada shell.  I didn't notice it at first since its color blended in so well with the surrounding color scheme.

The shell you see is the form the cicada has when it emerges from the ground, where it spends the bulk of its life.  When they get to the final stages, they create an exit tunnel and leave the ground behind, finding a nearby plant to latch onto.  They then shed their shell to become the big winged alien bug that makes that cacophonous din we hear every day.