Pennsylvania Red

The more I see of Pennsylvania, the more I notice the red. The first red I noticed was in the stone. Whether it is in the rock formations, or in the pavement itself, there is the presence of more iron-rich stone in the area which gives it a distinctive red that I am not accustomed to seeing in Washington State.

The second instance of red I noticed was in the birds. I’ve seen bright red birds (assumedly cardinals), and all sorts of as-yet-unknown birds with bright red markings, beaks, and faces, in addition to the red-tailed hawk (at least, I think it’s the red-tailed hawk).

Slowly I began to see the red in the flora as well. The branches of the trees and hedges all bear a beautiful red blush – especially visible in their wintry exposure and slowly swelling buds. There are red berries and rose hips in great abundance. Moreover, many trees which hold their leaves through winter (a phenomenon called leaf marcesence) add a light pinkish color to the forest. If you scroll back through some of the more recent images, can you see the red too?

Yesterday, as I looked at the trees around our cottage, I noticed another occurrence of the Pennsylvania red as seen in these images. I don’t know what things will look like around here in seasons to come, but I do wonder if this remarkable red is characteristic only of Pennsylvania, or can be found in other eastern states as well!