Holy Bird in Juniper

I Always Hoped to Find a Religious Figure in the Logs

Bet I've cut about a thousand juniper logs in our 20 years in the New Mexico mountains. 
I ALWAYS look at the cross sections, since the central red wood makes a collection of shapes worthy of Dr. Rorschach. Surely I would find a holy relic, maybe a saint or the Virgin Mary.

After chainsawing a log, what to my wondering eyes should appear but this wonder. A compound trunk sliced right at the point where a branch emerged and LO...
     

 Saint Dowitcher, the Longbill!

Who can doubt my sainthood?... check that halo!


Look up Dowitcher in your Audubon, ye doubters.

Not only does St. Dowitcher the Longbilled have a halo, it has a penumbra.  
Talk about your holy glow.


There are several varieties of Juniper hereabouts. I think this one is a "single seed," but I'm not positive.

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