At Lock 7

Today at Lock 7 I saw some trees that I visited early in my days of tree study, on August 28, 2010.   Now, I can see at a glance, even with no leaves on the trees, that there are cottonwood, Norway maple, and aspen, all trees I did not recognize in 2010.  Okay, well I don't know for sure that it's an aspen.  I have not studied the books thoroughly to positively identify it, but it is a tree that I see often and recognize.  Here's a picture of one that I took not at Lock 7, but at the bike path.

The one pictured below and several others appeared to me to be obviously Norway maples. I didn't check the buds. Just seeing the trunk and branches from a distance, I thought they looked like Norway maples. I remember, in my early days of of tree identification, I was so frustrated because I could not tell the difference between a Norway maple and a sugar maple.  It's nice to realize that I have made progress.

The white pine I did recognize in 2010.  That's a tree I've known all my life.  It was good to see it, and to smell it.  We don't seem to have as many pines around here as they do in New England.

I also took a look at a spruce.  I have not yet gotten very much into distinguishing different types of spruce.  That's something I should study in the future.

And like the spruce, this is one that I know generally but not specifically. It's one of those cedar type things.