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Top Ten (#4)

Photo by: Tim Bindner Photography

Here is # 4.

Technical aspects:

Camera – Fuji X100F

Aperture – F/5.6

Shutter Speed – 1/80 sec.

Focal Length – 23mm

ISO – 200

Film Simulation – Acros + R

Location – Hot Springs, TN (https://goo.gl/maps/srJhV3iD9UuEiVUy7)

Date – April 25, 2019 @ 6:23am

Anyone who knows me or follows my work knows my love of nature especially trees.  I most enjoy trees in their barren, leafless form.  Today’s listing is one such tree, but it is the memory and adventure to get to it that landed it in my top four.

Mark and I left the highway then turned on a two-lane road.  Within moments we made a turn on a side road called Max Patch Road.  Maybe 100 yards down this side road the pavement turned to gravel.  The gravel had potholes.  The Jeep’s suspension was tested.  The road was a slow ascent in the pitch black.  The headlights illuminated our path ahead, but to both, the left and right was a blanket of pure darkness provided by the trees.  Almost every horror movie I have watched has at least one scene where lowly travelers travel down this type of road.  I was excited!

Soon we reached a small gravel parking lot as the rain started to fall.  The light had started to brighten the skies, but we knew today would not provide us any sunrise pictures.  Disappointed yet not daunted we sat in the Jeep listening to the rain rhythmically dance on the roof above.  After about 20 minutes of sitting in the Jeep, we decided it was clear enough to head up.  We unloaded grabbed our raincoats and made our way down the trail.  A bald is another name for a hilltop that is clear of trees and bushes.  About 1/4-1/2 mile above us I could see the bald.  Mark explained there was a path that went straight up, but it was closed due to deterioration of the land and we would be taking the designated path that wound around and would take us to the top.  It was 6:40 am.

At the top we stayed for maybe 30-45 minutes then one of those large ominous storm clouds was heading in our direction.  Off in the distance, I could see the rain falling and the area between the mountain top and the bottom of the cloud disappeared.  It was headed straight for us.  It was time to go.  Remember that closed trail?  Well no-one was looking and we made a b-line down it to safety.  I might also add just in time as well.

As we headed down the closed trail I stopped and looked back at this little tree that caught my eye.  Of course, I stopped for a brief moment, snapped the picture above and etched that moment and experience into my memory.

Like my Top Ten #7, my affinity for this tree was quickly realized.  I wondered how long it had been there, how many people hiking the Appalachian Trail (this is only a few feet from it), even noticed it, and what this tree had also seen.  I imagine it had seen many sight-seers, experienced brutal heat, snowy and cold winters, and at the elevation, it was at many strong winds, and storms like we were experiencing that day.

I noticed that this tree had split into two main arteries at a young age and now provided two strong unified yet separate trunks as a display of its will and determination to live.   It was obvious from my vantage point that the left side experienced less harsh weather and the right had suffered some trauma about ¾ of the way up, yet the branch still grew just not in the normal upright direction as the rest of the tree.

All in all this tree is a symbol to me.  Like me it sometimes stands alone, yet survives.  It has dealt with hardship and trauma, yet kept growing.  The tree has stood out amongst the clouds, fog and storm that surrounds it.  As strange as this sounds this tree was calling to me, and I captured it in all its beauty.  As Dolly Parton once said, “Storms make trees take deeper roots.”  I think this tree has its legs and toes deeply planted in this mountainside, and as you can see its arms and fingers are reaching toward the skies.  I got this tree’s message and hope to also make this my mission in life.  Weather the storm, dig in and grow during the storms of life.

Until next time,

Tim

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