Snow Bend

My girls love the heavy, wet snow as it is perfect for building forts and caves in our yard.

I love seeing it on the branches of trees, but I do sometimes worry that the trees will break under the weight of the snow.

Nature has evolved to counteract this, of course! Coniferous trees (evergreens like pines, firs and spruces) have extra bendy branches that provide a little more give for any extra snow weight. This also creates a little protected space beneath the tree for animals (or children!) to hide in. Deciduous trees are less bendy in the branches, but they don’t hold as much snow because they lose their leaves each fall.

The next time it snows, we can appreciate how beautiful the trees look, but also how the snow bend in the branches is the result of organisms adapting to their environment.

Notice this when you go outside, then check out the book Pine and the Winter Sparrow by Alexis York Lumbard to hear a Native American tale about how evergreen trees came to be.