The
sumac candles have been flame red for several days, and they remind me of the
holidays, where deep evergreen boughs are topped by ornamental balls of red or
even the occasional cardinal perched up high and within.
There
is a cluster by the barn that is now at full height, twelve feet or so, having
several main branches that are remarkably straight with palmetto-shaped leaves
that reside on top. A few years ago, I cut down a dozen of the stalks and
stripped them to dry, using an old draw knife to remove the outer bark.
A month
later, we used these stalks to make walking sticks for the scouts, covering the
sanded surface with a coat of amber shellac. They were remarkably pretty.
Each
year, new stalks grow, pliant through May and June, growing ever taller and
hardening all the while.
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