Last month I showed how the clear-cut land next to us was growing again. Before it was cleared, the land was covered with eucalyptus and pines. In last month's pictures you can clearly see bona fide weeds and eucalyptus coming back. This month, while taking a walk, Marivi and I got curious about whether any pines might have reseeded. We had to look carefully before we found some pine seedlings scattered around, the largest ones being only about 10 inches tall.

The rich absentee-owner will probably never use the land and it'll probably grow wild until he hires somebody to clear it and sell the wood again. Even at my advanced age, I might live long enough to see it happen, considering how fast the eucalyptus (eucalypti?) grow. I just wonder whether the pines will get crowded out altogether.

Pine, oak, and chestnut trees are native trees here but they're fast disappearing as land owners cut them and replant with eucalyptus, which make fairly fast cash crops on otherwise unused land. It has gotten to the point that all the hillsides and woods look the same - covered with weed-like ukes. And that's a pity.