The Beauty of Age

Interestingly, I took this photo at the same location as my previous post -

Briar Patch Inn in Sedona. Normally, a tree stump's most visible element is its yearly growth rings that radiate out from the core of the tree, which you can see in the center of this photo. But this stump has two other elements - the hairline cracks spirally radiating out of the tree's core, and curving gouges created by the tip of the chainsaw as it cut the tree into logs. The stump's gray coloration and the cracks testify to the many years that this stump has felt the rays of sunshine drying out its wood, leaving behind a gift of its different kind of beauty.

As a photographer, I was first drawn to the graphic elements of this stump, and I framed the shot to almost fill my camera's frame. By making the photograph, my eyes have had time to roam between the three kinds of marks I describe above, and to appreciated the tonalities of light and dark revealed in the wood. It's a bit maze-like, with tree rings, cracks, and saw marks dancing together in a unique world with the tree's core at the center.

As I've spent more time with this image, my thoughts have turned to my own aging process. My hair is graying, although it is still curly, and my skin is wrinkling a bit, creating my own tree rings, so to speak. I'm now receiving Social Security income and my memory has cracks in it, two kinds of graying of their own kind. Stump-like, I sit quite still each morning for meditation, and lie corpse-like on the floor each morning and afternoon to take a short nap. Most days I sit on our back porch on a swinging bench, and simply be quiet. I am seeing more and more some parts of my life have been cut off, at the same time how wisdom and artistry have emerged through poetry and photography.

So what is universal about this conjunction of cracks, curls, circles, and shadows? Perhaps the tree, when alive, created a legacy of its seeds growing into other trees that are still living and creating shade for people, flowers, and grass. Some of you may find your own inspiration or sense of wonder by letting your eyes roam among the dancing lines and tones of this image and recognize some aspects of your own life in it, and honor yourself.