The wind is a powerful force bending and shaping this world of ours, taking a thing and directing, shaping it to his will.I came across this hawthorn high on the hills above Borth-y-Gest. It captured my attention as the wind had captured it - not enough that as a tiny seed it had struggled to force its way through the solid rock beneath to grow.
Small trees bent by the wind were the original Bonsai, dug up and brought home by wandering Samurai to grace the serenity of their paper screened houses. For a while I kept and grew Bonsai, lifting small trees from the wild or buying from the garden centre and trimming and shaping them into tortured shapes with copper wire. Sometimes they grew, other times they withered – but I have managed to keep a few although I have far more empty Bonsai dishes than full ones.
You need a lot of time and patience to grow Bonsai well – perhaps that’s why the wind is so good at it.
I'd say you grew some oaks as well.
ReplyDeleteDrawforjoy Illustrations commented on Facebook:
ReplyDelete"Wow!"
The wind is a great sculptor!
ReplyDeleteFab, you see trees like that in the west of Ireland as well.
ReplyDeleteA twisted tree stands in Bruntwood Park; it's the strangest thing. There's a spot - maybe 20ft across - where a gentle wind eddies, even on the stillest of days. Right on the edge of this is a tree whose trunk is twisted like a corkscrew, while other trees nearby grow straight up.
ReplyDeleteWe found it because we thought there were dozens of butterflies fluttering near its base and went to have a look. They turned out to be leaves instead, skipping on the breeze though there was not a trace of wind elsewhere. Most odd.
Yes Martin that is odd. I wonder what that tree has to tell us.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure, to be honest. Perhaps it's "If you can't tell the difference between butterflies and leaves, you're screwed."
ReplyDelete