tree houses...

Another assemblage piece with tree stuff - see more on my Wanderings blog.

trees growing everywhere...

Can't believe it's been so long since I posted here - be sure to check out my Wanderings blog for more up to date stuff!

I haven't completely abandoned trees as a subject matter, but my emphasis certainly wanders about... this piece is from my current body of work, exploring the theme of home, which of course, often includes trees...

tahoe snow (tree story #95)

Sunny, clear, warm, snow on the ground but no jackets required. Decided to take a day trip up to Tahoe - try to get a bit of snow in before it’s all gone. So little has fallen this year, there’s only about sixty percent of normal snow pack. And now it’s forecast to be quite warm this next full week. Highs in the valley are supposed to be nearly eighty today - Tahoe is predicted to be low sixty’s - certainly feels spring like. We’ve brought all our cold weather gear - all we really need are boots for tromping in the snow...

Just north of McKinney Bay - I have to climb up on top of the snow drift - occasionally stepping into knee deep snow - coming back toward the car I see the snow comes nearly to the edge of the lake. Getting there I step through a few more times, a little worried that I could catch my leg between rocks along the shoreline -

Judith Monroe, Wanderings journal

peace (tree story #156-157)

“I will make a covenant of peace with my people and drive away the dangerous animals from the land. Then they will be able to camp safely in the wildest places and sleep in the woods without fear. I will bless my people and their homes around my holy hill. And in the proper season I will send the showers they need. There will be showers of blessing. The orchards and fields of my people will yield bumper crops, and everyone will live in safety. When I have broken their chains of slavery and rescued them from those who enslaved them, then they will know that I am the Lord. They will no longer be prey for other nations, and wild animals will no longer devour them. They will live in safety, and no one will frighten them.

“And I will make their land famous for its crops, so my people will never again suffer from famines or the insults of foreign nations. In this way, they will know that I, the Lord their God, am with them. And they will know that they, the people of Israel, are my people, says the Sovereign Lord. You are my flock, the sheep of my pasture. You are my people, and I am your God. I, the Sovereign Lord, have spoken!”

Ezekiel 34: 25-31

prosperity (tree story #161-162)

My ears are filled with the sounds of promise:
"Good people will prosper like palm trees,
Grow tall like Lebanon cedars;
transplanted to God's courtyard,
They'll grow tall in the presence of God,
lithe and green, virile still in old age."

Such witnesses to upright God!
My Mountain, my huge, holy Mountain!

Psalm 92: 11-15

remembering (tree story #140)

A break in the recent storms has given me a great desire to get out. I’ve come to this park, next to where they’re building the new high school and find the high school grounds are taking more of the park than I expected. It’s a small blow to my heart. The “tree along the fence” is gone, as is the old fence; it makes me a little sad but bittersweet that I caught it on film while I could.

The ground is wet but not too soggy, covered in short green grass sprouts and fallen oak leaves. I wander around the park and find a well worn foot path dead-ends at a chain link construction fence. New taller fences, looking appropriate for sports courts, are just beyond.

Many of my favorite trees are still here though - I’m also looking to see how they all weathered the recent sixty-five-mile-per-hour winds, so I’m enjoying my old friends for as long as I can. A small flock of doves roosts in the top of the “woodpecker oak” and a few magpies at the top of another. I photograph one of the old heritage oaks that I had called “oak near Palmerson Drive” and one of the “s curve oaks,” reminding me of my kids playing here when they were little. Lots of tiny little finches flit around branches, twittering and calling out to each other, much like the little children in my memory.

Judith Monroe, Wanderings journal

longing for the wind's embrace (tree story #139)

Proud and strong they stand
with roots spreading across the land
reaching for the sky they are
to be viewed like beacons from afar
yearning for the sun’s caress
to shine upon their wooden dress
longing for the wind’s embrace
to bring out their ancient grace
proud and strong they stand
but will they survive the greed of man?

Magnus Holmgren