Summer Snow

Grand Junction, Colorado

My Journeys with Myla, pt. 3

Note: This is the third of a sequence of blog entries concerning my travels with Myla, a superb dog of uncertain breed (we think she’s half rat terrier and half dachshund) who was found barely surviving on the streets of Grand Junction and rescued by a group called Grand Rivers Humane. We adopted her in the autumn of 2013, and she has been a beloved part of our family ever since.

Recently, as my dog Myla and I have been walking the nearby trails that pass through the cottonwood bosque lining the Colorado River, we have been experiencing two early summer Southwestern phenomena – the sweet, honeysuckle scent of blossoming Russian olive trees and the heavy “snowfall” produced by the proliferation of seeds from the cottonwood tree.

The first of these, the aroma of the Russian olive blossoms, only concerns me, as far as I can tell. Myla probably detects the scent, but I can’t imagine it has any importance in her perpetual hunt for lizards, rabbits, chipmunks, and squirrels. However, she does, surprisingly, enjoy eating the small, hard “olives” that drop from the tree in September.

On the other hand, the annual inundation of cottonwood seeds, or “snow,” certainly does affect Myla. When these seeds are at their height, covering the ground with white drifts of parachute seeds, Myla gets them all over her nose and face. This especially happens when she dashes into a sagebrush patch or a tangle of dead branches after some reptile or lagomorph. After these excursions, Myla often emerges with a face full of cottonwood fluff.

The Russian olive originated in western Asia, and was introduced into western America as an ornamental tree in the late 19^th century. While it is a beautiful tree, with silver-green leaves and buttery yellow flowers, it is an invasive species that tends to crowd out native trees and plants. So, while I find the tree delightful, I reluctantly agree with those who wish to diminish the tree’s presence in the western landscape so that the native riparian environment can be reestablished.

Conversely, the cottonwood tree is native to the Southwest and plays a vital role in the region’s river basin ecology. Sadly, the cottonwood is under assault from human development and the widespread growth of invasive, western Asian plants like the tamarisk and the Russian olive.

So, while I enjoy both the sweet scent of Russian olive blossoms and the strange, unseasonal flurries of cottonwood seeds, the former should be a fading Southwestern scent, and the “snowdrifts” should be piling higher. As well, Myla might do without her Russian olive snacks in the fall.