right over my head

for over a quarter century, i have lived in this house and walked in this yard. i take joy in noticing the small things here - i know where all the native plants are and when and how they change with the seasons. yet this is the first time i have glimpsed this phenomenon, which clearly has been going on high above my head, all this time. this abundance of yellow in a common green pine, so far away i couldn't quite make out what it was. with binoculars first and then the telephoto lens, i found these. are they pine cones? is this how they begin their formation?

every time i think i know it all, nature serendipitously displays something else curious and wondrous.