Ice on the River

I took some grandchildren to Big Springs this morning.  They thought it was cold.  I thought it was wonderful.

Thorn Tree

I have a grandson who loves nature, bugs, dinosaurs, everything interesting.  Anything interesting.  He's ten.  He and I went on a walk on Thursday and he pointed out a thorn on a tree for me to see.

I thought at first that he was messing with me, but on this morning's walk, he showed me several trees with these thorns.

The entire bark of the tree is covered with these thorns.

I searched for matching images on Google but didn't get a hit.  No matter.  I'll keep going on walks with this grandson, and he'll keep showing me interesting things.  [Update:  This is a Toothache Tree.  The knobs have an analgesic property.]