Wednesday, January 29, 2014

The Old Man

The Old Man as he returns to mother earth


 As those who stop by here know, we spent Christmas in our beloved Columbia, MO. While it was a ~balmy~ 8º both the day we arrived and seven days later on the day we left, the time in-between were days of 40º or so weather. Perfect for hiking in the valley. Daughter Rem and I hiked down to see the turnip patch that had been planted to help over-winter the deers' food supply and, of course, to go see ~The Old Man~, (pictured above (in 2008) in the header). My brother had taken photos of him over Thanksgiving, but I just had to see for myself that the old guy had finally fallen down to the sands of time. Well...he has. A mere skeleton of his former self, he's still beautiful in his own way. Even better, even in winter, you can see evidence of his ~children~ growing all around him. 
For sure, nature renews herself. Out of death rises life. Though that beautiful old sycamore is close to being nothing more than wood dust, generations fueled by his roots will live on and on. 
And the memory of a great tree (and the family hikes we took to go see him) will stay with me forever. 

~~~

xo