Harrison Lake State Park, Fayette, Ohio
From mommies and daddies of course!
Yeah.
Did you know that God created male and female pine cones? I certainly did not!
This morning, as part of my devotional time, I looked into pine cones because of the ones we saw yesterday. I was curious, just what are those bronze-colored things, if not developing pine cones? It just didn’t seem right that they were developing needles of new growth.
Well, they’re not. Here’s what I learned:
They are male cones. They’re much smaller than the female cones (the pine cones we recognize), form in clusters of tiny mini-cones in the pine needles and only live a few weeks – most often in the Spring. Each mini-cone has scales, but they’re soft. Each scale develops a pollen sac. The pollen is a very fine, sulfur-yellow dust that releases into the wind once the male cones die. When the dust finds the inside of the female cone’s scales, the female’s seed is pollinated. (The pine nuts we eat are the seeds from select species.) It usually takes 2 years for seeds to mature. At that time, the cone falls to the ground. When the time is right, the cone opens up and exposes the seeds to grow new trees.
Look close and you’ll see they really do look like mini cones.
Female cones attach themselves to the branches of the pine tree, usually nearer the top. Depending on the type of tree, they can grow to be anywhere from 1/2 inch to 2 feet in length.
It is said that a pine cone on the forest floor is an indication of moisture and wildfire risk. Closed scales on a cone mean damp conditions while open scales mean the forest floor is dry. In autumn, pine trees produce more of the larger cones before a severe winter to ensure seeds will make it through squirrel and bird feeding frenzies.
And in the past, we learned that some pine species require fire to open their cones.
Isn’t God incredible! Every minute detail is accounted for! The more we look into nature, the more in awe we become! And the more incredulous the idea that “this all just happened”. Silly talk!
Once again, nothing much to blog about today.
Blaine took a look at the engine (through the bathroom floor) trying to find the source of the oil leak the Freightliner people told us about. He’ll check it again after we move tomorrow.
We walked around the lake – this time with the proper footwear –
So THAT’s where that cotton fluff comes from!
Another really awesome creation!!
and Blaine took a ride around the campground on his bike. I did laundry and we sat outside and watched all the empty sites fill up. We believe every one of the 183 sites are full now, but look at this picture – –
You can just see our new neighbors on the left of the picture.
This is why we prefer State Parks. We’re surrounded by campers, but still have lots of space! And I can’t explain it, but the campers (including the kids) in State Parks are generally quieter and better behaved. Hmmmm . . . .
Tomorrow we move further west and north.