Day 24 January 24, 2010

My favorite tree.  Is it weird to have a favorite tree?  I probably have more photos of this particular oak tree than any other.  One year I photographed it on each solstice and each equinox.  Today I took a shot from a different angle - and included a path through the meadow to the tree.  This tree dominates the meadow at Wildwood park and I normally only photograph it from afar.  In the summer it's hard to slog through the shoulder height (for me) grasses of the meadow to get closer, but they do mow a path from time to time - the remnants of which are seen here. 

I wish I knew how old this tree is - I suspect it has been here since European-American settlers named the region Oak Openings back in the early 1800s, but that may be wishful thinking.  This entire area was something of a swamp back then ("The Black Swamp", to be precise) and the rest was rather densely wooded.  Wagons had a tough go of it.  When they happened upon a region that had large oaks with ample space for a wagon between them (openings), the nickname was born.  The name has been revived in recent years to increase public awareness and preservation of the unique and diverse ecosystem of the area.

Today was a very gray day.  Unseasonably warm for January in these parts - nearly 50 degrees F.  A thunderstorm woke me early this morning and it's been drizzling off and on ever since.  I almost didn't need to desaturate this photo in post-processing to make it look monochrome! (But I did.)

The photo below I took as I was walking back to my car today.  I like the symbolism of the parking lot "erasing" part of the tree's reflection.