Roots

Along with everyone in the vicinity, I took a walk in the Arb during the eclipse. While my morning walks are designed to cultivate solitude, yesterday afternoon was filled with people in a delightful way. It reminded me of Lilac Sunday although not as crowded as that.

I’ve been feeling that my time of shooting tree bark is coming to a close, at least as the sole focus of my attention. I have the images I need for my show in the Hunneman Building (opening November 2) and I’m focused on producing those 25 images. So I’m looking elsewhere for things to shoot. My attention moved a bit, but not far, just slightly lower.

I’m looking at roots. This venerable beech tree has an impressive array of roots that support quite a large trunk and many branches. The roots remind me of claws clutching the ground. Given how many trees have been lost to high wind and wet ground, it’s an apt metaphor.

I felt the tenacious connection of this beech to this particular place. Trees don’t have the option to pick up and move elsewhere as we humans do. The same place for a really long time, a human lifetime and longer. Imagine what we would see and learn were we to choose to root ourselves to a place for a long time. Worth thinking about…