Wednesday, October 8, 2008

Playing in the Woods

There's nothing better than playing in the woods on an autumn afternoon. To learn more about red oak trees for my picture book for Milton Hershey School (http://www.mhs-pa.org/100years/celebration/photo-gallery/), I spent some time with my neighbor and friend, Tom Shearer. Tom is a retired forester from DEC. He reminds me of one of my favorite children's book characters -- Crinkleroot by Jim Arnosky. Being a "few years older than me," Tom makes me feel like a couch potato as he cares for his many acres of Christmas trees and hardwoods. Today, after stocking his ponds with fish, Tom showed me how to take a core boring of a tree to determine its growth rate, age, and periods of stress. Thanks, Tom! I'll bring back some Hershey Hugs and Kisses to thank you appropriately!

1 comment:

Judy Olson said...

Glad you got your core bored!