Trees are funny things. Except when they are a little bit scary or spooky.
Or Ents. I can't imagine an Ent telling a joke, and if they did the punchline would be a long time coming.
This twisted example is to be found high up on the Burren and I took the photo on a particularly brutal day off from cycling around County Clare and missing evidence of the West Clare.
What has really made me think about trees is first of all the recent excellent BBC documentary on a year in the life of an oak tree This includes some incredible statistics and should be a must see for anyone contemplating realistic trees. DId you know they have 700,000 leaves?
The other thing is watching our new garden as Autumn approaches. There is a point where we seem to lose the ability to look at individual trees. One tree, two trees... four trees, five trees....lots of trees.
I actually still haven't counted how many trees we now have under our care, but as they begin to change colour I'm finding it easier to pick out individual specimens, I could stand and look at them for hours,
"What is this life if, full of care,
ReplyDeleteWe have no time to stand and stare.
No time to stand beneath the boughs
And stare as long as sheep or cows. "
W. H. Davies
The other thing about trees is how tall they are when in their maturity. Love the spooky Irish tree! :-)
Spookier still was when various animals literally appeared out of the mist only feet away from you!
DeleteYesterday I found another ash tree I hadn't realised was in the back garden. And actually what looks like one big ash tree in the bottom picture of that post is itself two ash trees and a couple of hawthorns.
Around here I should really be quoting John Clare, but he has never appealed to me.
Clare spent his later years in an asylum, of course. The fens have a wonderful beauty to them: living nearby (Rutland) I get to appreciate them quite often.
ReplyDeleteSimon, yes he did, and yes they do. I really must visit his cottage. One of the many things I find fascinating about the fens is how quickly they change depending on weather ant the crops being grown. In Herefordshire and Warwickshire I was aware of the slow pace of country life, but here it seems to be on fast forward.
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