That's Not "Fall Color"

It is the color of drought and the death of thousands of trees in Memorial Park.



Each week this summer, Jerry and I have watched the slow death of hundreds and hundreds of trees. Not young saplings trying to develop roots, but established pine and oak trees upwards of 50 years old.



Since the wildfires in early September, the Park crews have been identifying dead trees and cutting them down.



In recent weeks, hundreds of trees that had been hanging on - waiting for a drought busting rain - have died and in preparation for a dry, La Nina winter, the Park crews are working overtime to clear them out. The Chronicle stated that 1200 have been cut down to-date, with another 2800 identified for removal.



If you live in a neighborhood, and you're watering twice a week on the "rationing schedule", you've probably noticed that your own trees don't look happy, but they're still alive and green. For us, Memorial Park IS our back yard and watching these trees die is a sign of things to come.

I started running at the Park in the early 80's - Jerry much earlier than that - and had many "landmark trees" that charted my progress and identified mile markers. When I wanted to quit, I'd tell myself ... just make it to THAT tree. As of Monday, only one or two of these trees is still alive.



Most of us have never considered the long-term effects of a severe drought - things haven't been this bad since the early 1920's. Our sources of water are literally drying up - as we flew over Lake Conroe on Saturday we were shocked at the drop in water level ... the lake has contracted well below the length of the boat docks and piers. Central Texas watched this happen on Lake LBJ, Travis and Austin earlier in the year and, in recent weeks, there have been amazing dust storms in the Panhandle and West Texas.

This summer it was dry and hot, but we had shade provided by these big trees. Next summer, the trees won't be there to offer protection. Many animals - both good and bad - will be displaced and, like the trees, will not live. Drought is much more "than not enough rain".



There are many important causes in need of funding, but the Memorial Park Conservancy is asking for donations for trees. If you're interested, visit this link:

http://www.memorialparkconservancy.org/Default.aspx?AspxAutoDetectCookieSupport=1

Not all of you live near the park, but this drought is wide-spread and I'll bet there's an effort in your area of the state that also needs support. My weather sources have said that if we don't have an early season Tropical Storm next June, that we can look for another summer just like this one. That's not encouraging news when combined with the prediction that weather patterns could cause drought conditions in Texas for up to nine years.



Yesterday, we received just under 2 inches of rain and that is a blessing. We need between 15 and 20 inches by the end of the year just to break even. Say a prayer, do a rain dance, we need rain!