OK, OK, I hear ya out there...no, not more gingkos! Too bad, it's my blog and this sight is one I anticipate seeing each year. So for the next few days I am going to be featuring this year's batch of gingko photos of the five magnificent trees in the Vicksburg National Cemetery. I think this is one of the prettiest events in Vicksburg and I wish everyone could see it in person. Little bitty ol' pictures just do not do these trees justice.
Fall in the Vicksburg National Military Park and Vicksburg National Cemetery is so glorious as the seasons change.
I wish I could transport us all back in time and to this location for you to actually be able to grasp the beauty of this tree that was on the Biltmore estate in early November. It was bursting with so much color it was as if God himself was having trouble keeping it contained within the leaves. We have a great God. He is awesome in his creation of a single leaf. Combine it with hundreds of others and you have yourself a dadgum reason to dance a jig in celebration of God's Glory!
My wife and I, along with our good friends Joe and Judy Tom, visited Biltmore Estate in Asheville, North Carolina, in early November. I figured out one thing about myself on the trip: I enjoy taking photos of God things much more than Man things. The photo above is what I consider to be the best photo I took on the trip, a little waterfall on the grounds of Biltmore Estate. It is one my favorite photos of the year. It is much more prettier to me than that great big ol' house and all its fancy furnishings. Give me a pond and cypress knees any day! Click on the photo to enlarge it to see the details!
Four leaves aren't ready to make the leap on this tree in downtown Vicksburg Friday night.
The lake on Tucker Road early Saturday morning. I don't know the name of the lake.
Crape myrtle at Newit Vick gravesite early Saturday morning.
Here are some more photos taken in the Vicksburg National Military Park on Saturday morning after a light snow fell during the night. The one above is probably my favorite. Standing guard...
Battery DeGolyer in the Vicksburg National Military Park was beautiful under a light blanket of snow early Saturday morning. The sun was rising quickly.
Here are some more photos from Saturday morning, the day a light snow covered the ground of Vicksburg and, in this case, the Vicksburg National Cemetery. The cemetery is home to four of the prettiest gingko trees I have ever seen in my life. The rest of this week, I will be presenting other photos I took in the park Saturday morning. Next week, I want to show you other photos I took of the gingko trees from last week and Saturday afternoon. I can't wait to show 'em! Can you?
One of the most glorious experiences in my life occurred Saturday morning when I stood under the gingko trees at the Vicksburg National Cemetery and saw, heard and felt the shower of gingko leaves as they fell to earth into a bed of snow. As they fell, the gingko leaves also unleashed small amounts of snow that had collected on the leaves during the night. What a wonderful sight. The photos I present here today and on Tuesday do not even come close to showing the true beauty of this event.
I wonder what kind of lesson God wants us to learn from the gingko tree. It slowly turns it leaves completely yellow and then all at once it releases them to the ground. In a flash, one of the most beautiful sights that can be found in the world is gone. If you have any thoughts, let me hear them, please.
