Tuesday, May 11, 2010

The Power of Small Things

Taking items out of their natural setting and into my basement studio is something that I find interesting.  This bur oak seedling was a casualty when I recently turned the soil in an area where I put a few new native perennials.  I found the miracle of nature working here- the shoots headed for the sun, and the roots headed for the soil.  There is so much potential in this little tree- If I plant it again, it could turn oxygen, carbon dioxide, water and nutrients into thousands of pounds of wood.  It could host lichens and moss, which in turn host insects and bugs, which are then feasted upon by woodpeckers.  It's hard to believe that our massive bur oak started out as a marble-sized seed.  There's quite a lot of power in one little acorn. 

Tom

8 comments:

  1. Wow! What a thrilling discovery!
    May I ask you a technical question: how you managed to cut it so even? Is it about making a picture or miracles of post processing?

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  2. Nothing is cut here- You're looking at a tree taken against a white background, which is white posterboard that I bought at the grocery store for about 50 cents or so.

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  3. Your analogy for the oak tree could work for Weston too...starting soooo small with so much potential.

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  4. We used to throw our unpopped popcorn kernels out in the backyard for critters (if they wanted them.) I was surprised to find corn growing out there one day. It didn't last (our soil's really killer,) but it was something else...

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  5. Marisa Cardona4/09/2012 04:57:00 PM

    Fantastic photo I wanted to know if I could have your permission to use it as a tattoo I'm getting in the next cpl days.

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    1. Melissa- you can, but please send me a picture once you've gotten the tatto, I'd love to see it and write a blog post about it!

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