Death and life

Went for a lovely walk today and saw some great things.

I even got some shots of some of them that I actually quite liked (which is unusual!).

But it was this misshapen bit of wood that moved me most when I got home and reviewed what I had taken.

I think the thing that got me was the tiny scrap of fresh green that’s making a sheltered home for itself on this great lump of old tree that has been baked by sun and blasted by wind 'til its bark has shrivelled, flaked and shattered.

But what this has revealed inside is smooth - almost polished - and beautifully coloured: decay adding another layer of beauty to the lifecycle of the tree.

And in the middle of it all, oblivious to anything that has gone before, a tiny seed has found a safe haven - somewhere to literally set down roots – and so a tiny new life begins, founded on what remains of another… and both are beautiful.