Figure 1 – Cthulhu’s tree, Assabet River Wildlife Refuge, Sudbury, MA. (c) DE Wolf 2016.

This past winter has revealed a vulnerability to New England trees. Many of the trees here are old and in many cases these trees become hollow and this makes them vulnerable to winds and excessively wet ground. Which is of course what the el Nino winter has served up in great quantity. As I have mentioned at the Wildlife Reserve, which is a wetland, there is a continuous process of tree limbs and whole trees crashing to the forest floor. Of course, it is a natural process as the forest evolves to its climax state.

I have begun to explore other areas of the reserve and on Saturday came upon the venerable old tree, of Figure 1, just off of the main road. Of course, it is always nice to see trees without the obligate telephone and electric wires – in their natural state as it were. And as I have also pointed out the Assabet River Wildlife Refuge, with its ammunition bunkers, has a brooding mythic quality to it – shades perhaps of H. P. Lovecraft. So this tree was striking both for its hollow trunk and for the limb that appears to have started growing in one direction – to the right – only to “change its mind” and bend to the left. A botanical decision made perhaps a century ago. So I call this tree Cthulhu’s tree in honor of Lovecraft and in the spirit of the gloomy day when I took this photograph.

On a brighter note, I will observe that spring is inexorable and yesterday I saw a pair of king-birds building their nest. The great thing about forests is the duality of change and changelessness.

Canon T2i with EF70-200mm f/4L USM lens at 70 mm, ISO 1600, Aperture Priority AE Mode, 1/2000th sec at f/7.1 with -1 exposure compensation.