Holiday Tree

Of the many symbols of the winter holidays, one favorite is a tree decked in colorful ornaments.

Yesterday was the culmination of a several day wet, warming trend.  The light, intermittent rain continued, and the temperature climbed into the mid 60s.

This morning, in contrast, was clear and much cooler.  The temperature was right at freezing, and there was a brisk, gusty wind, as I set out for the walk to work.

I headed up the path through the wild area where I sometimes see deer, and last week glimpsed a fox, and on into the block with the huge sycamore tree.

Ahead, I saw round, red shapes filling out the branches of a smaller tree - a flock of robins playing the role of ornaments.  As I approached, a few of them twittered and flew from branch to branch.  A much livelier display than colored glass balls.

I've noticed that, in the fall and winter, the robins congregate in large flocks and come and go with the weather fronts.  This group had followed the warm weather into our neighborhood, and overnighted only to find the morning quite chilly.  I'm sure they headed out during the day to avoid the even colder weather that is on the way.

Among the several new things I saw today, this holiday tree full of robins was my favorite.