Yes, the mighty have fallen. Mighty trees, that is. I took a little stroll recently thru the local county nature reservation, and began to ponder all the trees that got blown over by “superstorm” (semi-hurricane) Sandy, almost a year ago to this date. Some of the trees here were fairly old; you can see all the yearly rings on one of the cut cross-sections. I guess-timated over 100 rings / years for some of these trees. So over a century went by and life went on quite successfully for these strong living objects. Then one day, quite unexpectedly, a “superstorm” came along, and nothing was the same again.
Yes, that is something to ponder. No matter how well things seem to be going, no matter how abundantly one is blessed with success, no matter how much a person “just seems to have the knack” . . . in a moment, it can all come crashing down. We do need to heed the lesson of humility that nature is offering here.
Jim, Again, some very good pictures! And how right you are: One never knows when suddenly there will be a life change. I’ve had a lot of such changes in my life; and most of them were sudden and unexpected; a few were slow and seeming to never end.
The ones that were sudden and unexpected changed my life vastly and forever. Those that came on slowly also changed my life forever. I think the difference is in how one must handle the adjustment to the change. Interesting how the same thing occurs throughout nature.
I’ve often tho’t trees talked to me; I’m certain they are living things. Some trees are nice, kind, gentle, almost humble; others not so nice–personality wise, I mean. At least that’s how trees seem to me.
A tree 100 years old–young by “tree standards”? Maybe. How different “time” would be for such a tree–in comparison to how we perceive time.
Then too, the tree is a symbol of the genealogy of families. Somehow that too is so appropriate.
So many varied tho’ts about trees; all filled with much to think about on many different levels and in many different ways. MCS
Comment by Mary — October 27, 2013 @ 5:59 pm