the trembling leaves of winter

The last leaves of autumn still grace our oak trees, unwilling to let go and make the long journey down to the ground until early spring. Standing in our backyard, our oaks remind me of hair club for men candidates, with their bald branches on top giving way to the dangling leaf covered lower branches that rustle in the winter wind. It is these branches that the squirrels most covet, the ones that they nibble off to make their nests. These branches with their trembling leaves.

I know Baxter doesn't really get it, how the trees play such an important role in sustaining his backyard entertainment, but sometimes I catch him, all tingly with excitement and trembling all over when he's stuck on the deck looking out into our backyard, and I think he has become one with the trees. Listen closely, that's not the sound of trembling leaves you hear, but rather the sound of trembling ears.