Image credit: Muaz Kory
When I reach a small tree, its brown leaves still attached and stirring in the light breeze, I test their strength. I grasp a handful of leaves, one by one, pinching them between my thumb and forefinger before tugging them earthward with a quick jerk. Of the leaves I pull, only one comes loose. The others are strong, still connected firmly to the slender limb they hang from. So far, we have not had much snow this winter. Although it is January, in Montana the paths are muddy with small patches of ice and snow here and there.