Dead pine cone with new greenery

By September 6th it had been two years since most of the pine forest in Bastrop State Park and vicinity burned down. It had also been half a year since my last visit there, so I went back. Although the place still looked desolate—let this dead loblolly pine cone be an emblem of that—I did find plenty of new growth on a small scale—let the greenery beyond the cone be an emblem of that—as I had before, and as you’ll see again over the next several days.

© 2013 Steven Schwartzman