More Roots

It was a surprise to me when I uploaded this image that it so quickly didn’t look so much like roots and appeared more like some odd aerial landscape. I knew when I was shooting it that I was capturing an image of the roots and base of the trunk of a hornbeam (a yeddo hornbeam for those who, like me, enjoy the specificity of the Arboretum’s tree labels).

The point is not so much the visual confusion, which I confess appeals to me. It helps me let go of the illusion that I understand day-to-day mechanics of this world of ours. It’s more about getting lost in textures and colors and letting go of concern for the “what.” I can just revel in the vision without getting distracted by meaning.

Hey, I wouldn’t want to live my life that way all the time. I imagine it would get tiresome. But it’s helpful for me from time to time to get out of my categories and definitions, and just notice beauty. There’s so much of it and there’s even more when you simply look rather than think!