Finding the Dreys in the Gray of Winter

Spring has come to South Texas; it’s my favorite season! The sun is shining and the humidity is low. Life has come back to the trees, and the leaves are bursting out in vibrant green. When I moved here in 2001, I fell in love with the trees of Lake Jackson. I remember driving down Oyster Creek for the first time and commenting on how lush and lovely the big live oaks and giant pecan trees were along the roadside. The Spanish moss hanging from the branches of trees and the gray clumps of ball moss were a wonder to me. Being from the North, it was a novelty to have my very own pecan tree in my front yard. It dropped so many pecans that first year that I boxed them up and mailed them to my parents in Washington!

But this winter, as I drove down Oyster Creek, I bemoaned the leafless, lifeless gray trees. Even the Spanish moss had lost its charm. Honestly, my neighborhood felt depressing. But then I spotted something. High up in the leafless branches of a tree was a clump of leaves. I looked from tree to tree and sure enough, almost every tree had one. They are “dreys,” squirrel nests built from sticks, leaves and moss. I’m embarrassed to admit it, but in the 25 years that I have lived here, I hadn’t noticed the dreys before. It was a glass half-full moment. Because the branches were bare, I was able to see and appreciate the dreys in my neighborhood trees for the first time.

Squirrels build their dreys high up in the trees tucked into the fork of the branches. They can be seen sometimes 20 feet up, away from predators to provide safety and shelter for their “kits.” The gray squirrel will breed twice a year, January to February and May to June. Squirrels often build multiple dreys or even keep a backup nest in a single tree. They maintain both a summer and a sturdier winter home and even share a nest with another squirrel to keep warm.

My dog is quite aware of a certain gray squirrel who has built its drey in our palm tree. Gracie, a terrier/chihuahua mix, is completely obsessed with this squirrel. She tries to climb the palm tree after it and often sits under the tree for hours. Sometimes I have to go after her with a flashlight to bring her in at night and that darn squirrel just dangles upside down, flicking its tail, taunting and clicking at her.

After discovering the dreys, I have developed a new appreciation for squirrels. Though I prefer the tender spring leaves on trees, I have come to appreciate the dormant trees and the surprise it revealed this winter. April is National Poetry Month, so I’ll leave you with this Mary Oliver poem…

When I am Among the Trees
by Mary Oliver

When I am among the trees,
especially the willows and the honey locust,
equally the beech, the oaks and the pines,
they give off such hints of gladness.
I would almost say that they save me, and daily.

 I am so distant from the hope of myself,
in which I have goodness, and discernment,
and never hurry through the world
but walk slowly, and bow often.

 Around me the trees stir in their leaves
and call out, “Stay awhile.”
The light flows from their branches.

 And they call again, “It’s simple,” they say,
“and you too have come
into the world to do this, to go easy, to be filled
with light, and to shine.”

Published in The Facts newspaper Brazos Living 3/25/26