Loblolly Pine in August

Nudge of dawn, and they stir in half-light. Still air hangs heavy—not a bird, not a trill. Eager, the sun pulses under the skyline— flickering then flushing pink-gold before breaching the horizon, now bursting through, firing up orange to stash cumulus behind blue as the pines stake themselves into place—bark-cased statues carved out vertical, their […]