Photoessay #695 - Is this tree dead?

Two questions I get asked all the time....

"Is that dog part pit bull?"
and
"Is that tree dead?"

The first one seems obvious. Teddy has that boxy face and smooth fur. The mom was not part pit bull. Who knows?

The second refers to that STUPID tree in my front yard. Maybe it will do us a favor and just fall down. Every year, it looks like it's dead. Usually it does not lose it's leaves until January, just these ugly dead leaves hanging on. Then I figure it drops 10% of its leaves every week so you always have soggy bunches of leaves in the driveway. I HATE soggy bunches of leaves in the driveway.

This year with the 13 day 'snow event' and very cold weather, it kind of lost its bearings. The leaves have never fallen off, just brown wrinkled dry leaves adorn its branches. So it looks dead.

But its not dead, just sleeping.

Look at the second picture, see signs of life. Never mind that it's mid-May and all of the other trees have leafed out. Its coming, it will just take awhile.

So I don't think its dead. We should be so lucky!!