Sometimes I complain about the ubiquitous, tough yaupon bushes when one of their branches whips back in my face or legs to remind me of a childhood switch. (Mother made us cut our own.) Fact is, the yaupon is a generous food source for deer, squirrels and birds. And don't be put off by the scientific name: ilex vomitoria. Hurling may occur if you eat the berries, but tea brewed from the dried, ground tender young leaves is full of caffeine and tastes remarkably like black tea. Uh. . . so I read. Maybe I'll try it next April, when there are new leaves.
This photo was taken as part of a Christmas/New Year's walkabout right at the end of 2003. The following slide show album is a recreation of that walk. Most of my earlier photo albums that had been organized on Typepad were lost when I impetuously zapped the original Switched At Birth in June of 2005. Luckily, I have copies of the photos on discs. They are in a state of anarchy, and not always easy to locate, but I'm hard-headed and persistent. There are lots of choices now for preserving photos and embedding slide shows. It's much easier than the old method, which feels like hunt and peck.
