Trees

 

            I went down to the trinity river this weekend, similar to last, but I decided to walk the opposite direction. I was curious to find out what I would be writing my weekly blog on and quite frankly, I was genuinely surprised to gather as much material as I did. Once again, I saw two turtles perched on a log, basking in the sun in the middle of the river – see photo below. In addition, I came across something I have never seen occur before, or at least never noticed to this degree. I would not have guessed that going a different direction would have brought such a different, unique form of nature.

            As I walked and continued searching, I stumbled upon a section of trees that seemed to lean away from the Trintiy at almost a 90-degree angle, parallel with the ground. It is not uncommon to see trees lean slightly, in one direction or another, but I have never seen trees arch to such an extent and in correspondence with one another. I stood there for quite some time, thinking about what could possibly make them bend like that. Eventually I took to google – and Dr. Williams - to answer my question and found that the main reason has to do with sunlight. Trees, and plants in general, will lean and spread their leaves out in whichever manner provides them with the most sunlight. As I contemplated this phenomenon, I looked around at the trees that were leaning over and most, with the exception of a few, were smaller in size and covered by a larger tree. I would assume that these trees were blocking their sunlight and leaning was the most efficient way for them to obtain more.

            Another reason grown trees may be bent – again, thank you Dr. Williams – has to do with traditional Native American travel techniques. Native American’s would bend small, young sapling trees they came across on a trail so they could find their way home easier. This could be plausible in the case of my trees, but I figure they would not bend a whole forest, for that might be somewhat counterproductive.

            I continued to spend some time underneath the trees, examining their surroundings. I thought about just how incredible nature is and how plants, something that we deem as irresponsive to surroundings, can move and adjust like we can. Similar to humans, they are constantly looking for food and doing what they must to obtain it. In addition, the sun having the ability to pull massive trees in one direction or another shows just how powerful it is. Each and every time I go outside and really examine nature in detail, it really does continue to surprise me.