I know that most of you have enjoyed the possibilities of the prompt this time – Change of Season as, in the Northern Hemisphere, you have such distinct changes in the seasons.  The material to work with is stunning and the images plentiful.

I live in the middle, temperate latitudes of the southern hemisphere, in a “mediterranean” climate, and on the edge of an arid area.  Our climate has hot, dry summers and coolish winters.  All this means that we sort of have 4 seasons a year, but sometimes it feels like only 2 seasons – a summer that lasts for 6 months, and the rest of the year. The seasons blend together and there is little distinct change from Spring to Summer, or Autumn to Winter.

I was reflecting on how to represent the change of seasons in my area of the world – no massive colour change in the trees during autumn, no snow balanced on the roof or laden on the boughs of trees, and my thoughts turned to the Australian trees. There are 800 species of eucalyptus native to Australia and they are largely evergreen.  They remain clothed in their grey green leaves all year, shedding their bark in summer, flowering heavily if spring conditions are suitable; recovering in magical ways if bushfire damages them.

The hard, leathery, dull leaves that droop from the gum trees, moving softly in the summer breeze as it skirts over the hard red earth are unforgettable reminders of a childhood spent seeking their shade in the heat of the day.  The smell of eucalyptus oil in the leaves and the blue haze that sits in the air above the mountains are iconic, sensory triggers for those returning home from overseas.

And those 800 different species have all sorts of different leaves and bark and flowers and trunks and colours and nuts and supportive insect life and animals and birds that live in them.

My Change of Season prompt will feature the scribbly gum, Eucalyptus haemastoma. The scribbles come from a moth lavae that tunnels under the bark to find a home in which to develop.  The scribbles are revealed when the bark sheds in summer.  My challenge will be to see if I can reflect the beauty of the tree as well as the art of the moth, Ogmograptis scribula.