The Secret Life of Trees

Alone at the edge of the forest.

Sap quietly circulating everywhere, like a myriad of creeks finding their way through every twist and turn. Rising through the trunks, splitting at every crossroads, distributing itself evenly through the branches. Feeding everything.

A sea of trees communicating and cooperating through subterranean networks of fungi. One giant organism living, breathing, regulating itself, interacting with the environment. A web of life bringing together plants, fungi, insects, animals. Lifeblood flowing everywhere, unseen and unheard.

Right here, there’s no judgment. No need to pretend. No expectation. Trees don’t need explanations. They do their thing and they accept you. They accept you even when you cut them down.

I have taken these photos a few months apart. There are so many things that are different – the season, the weather, the light – but the tree is there, standing tall. Imperceptibly different but essentially the same through rain, mud, snow, or sun.

This is my contribution to this week’s Lens-Artists Photo Challenge, hosted by John under the topic of Change.