Late Autumn at the Lake

Last Thursday, the day before the arrival of our first major arctic cold front, I spent some time at Elmendorf Lake Park including a walk on the island. The Bald Cypress are well on their way to turning the beautiful rust-red for which they are well known late in autumn:

Bald Cypress (Taxodium distichum) are called "bald" because they are deciduous, thus having "bald" branches through the winter. This is a beautiful tree native to Texas Hill Country stream banks and wetland areas.

The wood is extremely decay resistant. It is such a desirable wood for construction and other purposes, it was very heavily harvested by the early settlers. There are now very few Bald Cypress remaining here that are more than 130 years old.

This set of photographs was taken on the island at Elmendorf Lake Park on Thursday, November 21, 2013.