By now, if you've been reading this blog for a while, you know my fascination with trees. Several have been discussed in various entries - some with photographs and some without.
Well, last week I finally managed to take some pictures of what I call my Halloween tree. Here's how it happened. I had been out running some errands without D who things to take care of at home. My last stop was at the grocery store and after that I drove through some little back streets to get to a road that leads more directly to our home.
Since summer I have been reminding myself to take a picture of this particular tree in the fall. It had to be fall because the nature of this oak tree demanded it, and because I really don't know how much longer this tree will be left standing. It stands beside a farmhouse surrounded by fields that are no longer under cultivation. The farmer from whom we bought vegetables in the summer thirty years ago was an older man at that time. And he has since died. You know what happens to small farms in that case. The fields have been allowed to lie fallow for years since, since as he aged, the farmer couldn't keep up with the farming. Parcels of land were sold. Since his death, his family has not been able to keep the house from its slow decline. Sadly, I predict the land will be sold - sooner rather than later - and this old oak will be cut down to make way for whatever buildings will go up. Indeed, it may not last even that long.
Anyway, I realized as I drove home with my groceries that I had forgotten to stop for the picture, and I didn't even have my camera. Thank goodness for cell phones! I turned right around and drove back through the windy streets so I could reach the perfect vantage point for this tree.
Here it is. Can you see why I named it as I did?
Another view that includes the old farmhouse as well as showing the spread of this old fellow.
This final shot should make clear why I named this tree the Halloween tree.
What will I do with these particular photographs? I can imagine this tree showing up in a quilt. Just look at that branch on the right as it zigzags into the distance and others that in typical old oak fashion bend in impossible curves. Then there's that remarkably large hole; what do you think lives in there? Or if you look up at the second picture, I can see a painting (edited, of course). Look at the open door (open to what? to let something in or to encourage something to exit?) and the blank staring window to the door's right. Notice the siding and the general slide toward decay. Then you can see the barn behind the oak tree and the poignant tilty birdbath.
I mean no disrespect towards the family or the property. Instead I like to chronicle my flights of fancy; the writing of this blog fixes my impressions in my mind and helps me remember them later. My imagination likes to develop stories to match what my eyes see. For example -
Where do you think Jack and King Crow (from "Jack's Wild Ride") might be in this setting? Where have they been, and what are they doing now?
that is definitely one of the very pretty trees in the area. I, too, love the shape of the branches. In the kids' younger days, I do think this would have been a climbing tree! Well, that is, climbing kids on the tree!
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