TRAGEDY

Remember this old tree that sits next to our low water crossing? My favorite tree in the world? I talked about it here. I spoke of how much I wish I could communicate with it -- to see what it has seen over the years -- and about how it normally drapes its limbs over a beautiful stream, but how, during our two year drought, the family who owned the property at the time made the most of the situation by turning the dry creek bed into an outdoor living room.

I have loved it in all seasons and all conditions -- flood, drought, and everything in between -- and have taken countless pictures of it over the last nine or ten years. In all that time, though, it never once occurred to me that I would end up taking pictures like these.

Apparently this last flood was the straw that broke the camels back. My heart breaks a little, every time I drive past.