There is was, starring down at me with all its force, grace and strength. I was eight years old and had just fallen out of the great tree that resided in my own backyard. My back hurt, my bones ached and my head was spinning. The sky was completely blue, and I could see the light through the branches and leaves. I was in love.
That’s how it started for me, my love for trees, and I have held that moment with me for over 40 years. Growing up in the early 70’s in West Texas, it was all I knew. There was no Internet, no cell phones and no place to go, except up. Up in to the majestic tree, where I could see everything and be anyone. I would get a little rush every time the wind blew the branches I was perched on. My hands and clothing sticky from the sap, my Mom was going to be pissed, but I did not care. Let her come for me I thought, bring it on! I was free up there and unless it spit me out, which is frequently did, there is where I would stay.
My favorite tree was our neighbors, it was a Plum tree. To get to it I had to scale the wall, which was made of concrete and rocks, shaped into a point at the top. To walk these walls was an exercise on its own, you had to walk like a duck with one foot on either side. The payoff was worth it, not long did I get to climb and sit in this tree, I had ample food to go with it. This also began my love for Plums, but that is for another story.
As I got older, climbing trees was not fun anymore, Maybe I had fallen out of too many. I still loved them and could sit under one for hours and either read, or just sit there and think. To this day, I still eat my lunch under a tree whenever I eat outside. I will go out of my way to find the right one. This practice panned out well for me when I lived in Phoenix, Arizona. There you had to get under a tree just to keep from melting. It was there that I started taking photographs of them.
This activity was accidental. I was taking a photography class and I had an assignment to go for a “walk about” and photograph everything that caught my eye. The very first tree I shot reminded me of how I loved them so much, it made me feel young again.
I have been taking pictures of trees ever since. Don’t get me wrong, I take pictures of everything I come across, but every time I shoot a tree, I get a feeling of peace, or going back in time, a time when life was much simpler and all we had to do was get away.
At my age now, I know that climbing a tree is not a good idea, but shooting them will always make me feel at home.
CC
