The Tree I Belong To.

Photograph by Anna Holtermann

The Tree I Belong To

At Beaver Lake, on the backside of Shelby Farms in Tennessee, there is an extraordinary tree.

I don't know how old it is, how long its enormous roots have been spreading into the earth, or how many mornings it has greeted the rising sun.

I do know that I love it.

I visit often, sometimes just to sit beneath its magnificent branches and enjoy the life happening all around us.

One morning, the sunlight stretched our shadows across the grass. I noticed mine beside the tree's, then moved a little closer until our shadows became one.
It's not my tree.

I belong to the tree.