I'd never heard of a derecho thunderstorm until last week when one hit this part of the country. 110+ km/hour winds gave way to hundreds of toppled and broken trees in my area. So many old and beautiful trees lost, including 8 on our property. We were among the lucky ones who had very little damage to our house and were without power for only 4 days. We did have to bring in a team to finish taking down broken trees, and spent hours cutting up and clearing branches around our house and the neighboring homes.
While taking photos to document the damage and destruction, I started to notice some of the artistry - and weirdness - of nature in the piles of wood and branches. I decided to try to capture some of this artistry as part of this record, perhaps to interpret into fibre art in future as a further reminder of the destruction - and the beauty revealed - from such a powerful storm.
 |
| Pile of wood awaiting removal |
 |
| Lichen covered branch - can you spot the three different types? |
 |
| Do you see a knot - or an eye? |
 |
| I took this photo because of the lines in this broken tree stump - and didn't notice until afterwards the photobombing bee! |
 |
| I'm pretty sure this is Slime Mold - one of the weirdos of the forest. Although I had heard of it, I don't think I had ever seen it - until now. Like a blob, wet looking, a wee bit gross in fact, yet fascinating all the same. Not sure it will be part of any future art piece though. |
It definitely pays to keep one's eyes open - the more you look, the more you see, and learn.
Respect for nature, respect for storms, and a definite high respect for all the hydro workers, workers clearing trees and branches, volunteers, neighbours helping neighbours during these difficult days.
So sorry about your trees Anne. One compensation however was the incredible textures you learned about, a photo-bombing bee, and the opportunity to see slime mold up close and personal. Made for an interesting pic. - Jan
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for your comments. Yes, the destruction of trees is so sad - it's still awful to see the downed trees that have yet to be removed. I guess I always try to find a silver lining - that is usually the artistry. The city will be doing lots of mulching of these trees which will then be available for our gardens. The cycles of nature....
DeleteHi Anne, I am also fascinated by the beauty of the wood and branch artistry after such a horrible destruction... thank you for sharing your thoughts and photos
ReplyDeleteSo sad, this truly has had a huge impact on me. Recording this devastation in some way through art I think could be very healing for us artists.
ReplyDelete