The pin oaks of my youth were all over Lexington, but where I remember them most is along Chinoe Road (that’s SHIN O WAY).  They rustled their dry leaves in front of some of the more desirable real estate in town.

Long after the leaves of other trees had flamed up, dropped off and blown away, the pin oaks hung onto their poor brown specimens. Pin oak leaves had not mastered the art of the graceful exit. Even with snow on the ground, they clung to their branches. They reminded me of old women with overly made up faces; like them, they did not know when to quit.

Walking past a grove of pin oaks the other day brought these memories to mind, how I had always disliked the tree, found it ugly and lacking in grace.

But this year the pin oak has company. This year many leaves fell during the hurricane, and some trees are nearly bare, but certainly not all. At least a third are half-leaved. It’s as if they’ve forgotten what to do next.

Pin oaks don’t provoke me as they used to.  Perhaps it’s because I’m older (though not overly made up!) and see the wisdom of clinging to what nature has given us until nature, in its wisdom, takes it away.