Cold and Blustery at Mt. Pleasant
/Last week, the Howard County Conservancy hosted a Weather Conference for representative 6th grade students from 10 middle schools in the county….about 100 students with their teachers.
It was sunny…but cold with wind gusts up to 50 mph. The plan to have students interact with tree experts while they worked on a large tulip poplar was nixed because of the potential of branches falling with the higher winds.
I was bundled up and outside for most of the conference – directing groups of students to their sessions and directing small groups to the County’s Emergency Services Command Unit. When all was quiet, I took a few pictures. I like the colors of the ferns as some fronds succumb to the cold.
There was a pine cone that seemed to be glowing from within because of the way the sun was shining on it.
The tulip poplars are releasing their seeds.
I am always surprised when I see the heron sculpture. I know it’s there but somehow forget.
There were some small branches torn off by the buses making the tight turn after they let the students off close to the building.
There were two things blooming: a witch hazel where most of the petals had already fallen (it will be forming seed pods) and some unknown flower that was in the flower bed near the flower pot people. The flower is probably warped by the cold but is still a welcome bit of color in the wintery landscape.
By 1 PM the students were climbing on buses and the clean up of the big room was underway.
