{"id":10738,"date":"2022-04-08T21:14:54","date_gmt":"2022-04-09T02:14:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.savebuffalobayou.org\/?p=10738"},"modified":"2022-04-08T21:20:38","modified_gmt":"2022-04-09T02:20:38","slug":"spring-on-the-bayou","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.savebuffalobayou.org\/?p=10738","title":{"rendered":"Spring on the Bayou"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

April 7, 2022<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yes, it has happened. Spring has sprung. It seemed to take longer this year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We were also late getting our spring shot of that bend in the bayou, the same high bank in the tangled woods of Houston\u2019s Memorial Park we\u2019ve been documenting throughout the seasons for the last eight years<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our devoted photographer, Jim Olive,<\/a> has high-tailed it to the California desert with his beloved in order to escape the unhealthy air here. Never mind that it is often too dangerously hot there even to walk outside.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So the assistant had to take over, enlisting an assistant-assistant. We braved the clouds of yellow tree pollen (\u201cextremely heavy\u201d)<\/a> and only slightly impaired, fought our way into the woods through the wire and branch obstacles erected by the Memorial Park Conservancy.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fortunately we made it down the well-traveled dusty path and out again before the start of the red flag warning of fire hazard and high winds<\/a>. The sun was barely up over the trees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was a lovely day. We stood on the high bank, watching the muddy stream, listening to the birds singing to each other, wrens and cardinals. (Actual on-site recording<\/a>) The flow was fairly high, over 1800 cubic feet per second (cfs), apparently mostly releasing from Addicks Reservoir<\/a> in far west Houston. The gates on Barker<\/a> were closed. (Here\u2019s our page of links <\/a> to rainfall and river flow gauges, flood maps, and other useful stuff.) Note that both federal reservoirs are public parks, used only for flood control, normally dry, their floodgates usually open.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
That bend in the bayou on April 7, 2022. Looking downstream from a high bank in Memorial Park with the River Oaks Country Club golf course opposite. Photo by SC<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The Trees Are Alright<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some of us have been concerned by the number of trees that seem to be slow to wake up. The world is confusing enough without having to go through super cold weather one day and sweltering temperatures the next. What to think?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Texas A&M urban forester Mickey Merritt is not concerned. He says that maybe we\u2019ve just gotten used to trees leafing out earlier than they normally do. \u201cThe last couple of years have been pretty warm in February and trees leafed out early.\u201d But we\u2019ve had freezing weather more recently, and it\u2019s been colder a little bit longer, he adds. Drought could play some role, but that will \u201creally show up later when things get hotter.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Oaks, he thinks, are \u201dright on time, live oaks especially.\u201d Pecans \u201care always last \u2013 end of April, mid-May.\u201d He\u2019s not worried about sycamores either.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And it\u2019s not unusual for a couple of the same species, red maples, for instance, in the same neighborhood, to leaf out one ahead of the other.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

No studies have been done, but his observation, \u201cjust driving around,\u201d is that he\u2019s not seen \u201canything to make me concerned.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

  • \"\"<\/figure><\/li>
  • \"\"<\/figure><\/li><\/ul>
    This creek flows from the center of Memorial Park under Memorial Drive and into Buffalo Bayou at the bend. Normally it is shallow and clear enough to see the sandy bottom. Left photo looking downstream. Right looking upstream. Photos by SC on April 7, 2022<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

    <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    SC<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    April 7, 2022 Yes, it has happened. Spring has sprung. It seemed to take longer this year. We were also late getting our spring shot of that bend in the bayou, the same high bank in the tangled woods of Houston\u2019s Memorial Park we\u2019ve been documenting throughout the seasons for…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10738","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.savebuffalobayou.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10738","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.savebuffalobayou.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.savebuffalobayou.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.savebuffalobayou.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.savebuffalobayou.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=10738"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/www.savebuffalobayou.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10738\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10757,"href":"https:\/\/www.savebuffalobayou.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10738\/revisions\/10757"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.savebuffalobayou.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=10738"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.savebuffalobayou.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=10738"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.savebuffalobayou.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=10738"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}