Friday, March 21, 2008

Sky Watch Friday

We hiked the trails of Germantown Reserve last weekend. And of all the areas the trails pass through, the Old Growth Forests always attract me. To be beneath the stately trees that have watched the land change.
Among them, two-hundred-year old Beeches.



Their silvery bark, weathered and worn, yet, so recognizable against the brown, leafless woods.






They rise beside the trail. Their branches still hanging on to the last papery leaves of summer.






Reaching to touch the sky.

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26 comments:

Lisa at Greenbow said...

Aaaah yes. Trees talk to me. I just love the Beech. Finding those little growths at the base of a Beech is so fun. Like finding that fairies have been in the garden.

SandyCarlson said...

I love the change in perspectives. That's a beautiful tree.

Unknown said...

Great swf shots, very nice perspectives. Happy Easter.

This Is My Blog - fishing guy said...

I reall like the third picture with the tree reaching into the Sky. Happy Easter.

Daniel J Santos said...

excellent perspective, well done.

Richard said...

Nina....go in and edit the post and reverse the last 2 pictures and put them closer together. That will give a good view of how tall the tree is. Just a suggestion. Nice pictures.

Carletta said...

Very nice series of shots! The blue sky in the background, the perspective, the starkness of the trees - I loved it.

Daryl said...

nice shots!

Anonymous said...

Very nice post for sky watch.

dot said...

Nice post! You have a way with words and very good pictures also.

Anonymous said...

No doubt there ... that tree is really trying to reach the sky ...

kuanyin333 said...

Lovely series. I really like your blog as I'm also very much resonate with Nature. Happy Easter!

Alan said...

Lovely photos. We don't get beeches down here but I have always loved the way they look.

Tom said...

A great set of Sky Watch pictures and 3 great shots of the Beech... my necks hurting now looking up at that last one. ;o)

Enjoy this coming weekend and what it brings you.
Tom

EG CameraGirl said...

I LOVE beech trees. Here in the forest where I like to walk the beeches keep their leaves all winter. Sure they're brown...but they ARE leaves. LOL

Misty DawnS said...

Awesome post!

I hope you have a great weekend.

Sandpiper (Lin) said...

I've just spent some time catching up here. Wonderful posts! I love the little salamanders in your previous post. Nice to see the earth coming awake again. :)

Carole said...

Wonderful trees!

Anonymous said...

Beeches are fantastic trees. I'm looking forward to when the first new leaves appear. They have a different colour at first that has a special magic. In the woods near home we have a perfect ring of beeches (almost certainly planted like that) which is a really atmospheric spot. I almost proposed to my wife there...(but the wood ants interfered). Enjoyed your post, thanks.

Lilli & Nevada said...

Great photos of the tree, is that moss on the bottom of the tree?
Happy Easter

Mary said...

Nina,

Two...hundred...years. Amazing, isn't it?

Your photos are grand - as grand as the Beech trees.

Mary

Small City Scenes said...

I got a crink in my neck from looking waaaay up the tree all the way to the sky. Great shots. MB

Cathy said...

Thanks for looking up for me! I'm like a couple of those comentors above: oh, my aching neck:0)

nina at Nature Remains. said...

I went back and forth about which way to present these--as 3 parts top to bottom (for a more realistic tree image) or bottom to top (as I experienced it on that walk)--and decided upon the latter for this reason:
As I walked along, most of my focus was on the ground--a slick trail and the brilliant mosses catching my eye for the most part. But, when we came upon this towering ancient, the trunk drew us upward, to the reaching branches and blue sky beyond.
Were it not for the tree pointing our attention upward, we might have walked on--missing that great blue and puffy white collage.

Dave Coulter said...

nina,

You might check out the book "The Wild Trees"...I just finished it a couple weeks ago. I liked it a lot!

Appalachian Lady said...

Your post made me think about what it must have been like when the settlers first came--when there were ancient beech trees. Joan