Tuesday, January 06, 2026

The tree that fell in the forest

Shattered in the snow
London, ON
January 2026
This photo originally shared on Instagram


A tree fell in the forest nearby, and I’m sharing this photo to confirm that it was indeed heard.

The dog and I came across this rather sad scene as we headed home from a longish walk. The tree so completely blocked the path and the entire valley that there was just no way around it. So we turned around and took the long way home.

This isn’t the first tree that’s fallen here, and given the age of some of the giants that still shape the canopy above, more will soon fall victim to gravity.

Of course this is how nature works, but it still felt respectful to stand by its fallen form for a bit and take it in. Calli sniffed at the snow-covered branches while I appreciated its sheer size. Somehow, they seem larger when they lay shattered across the ground.

The long walk home gave us ample time to ponder the cycles that govern life here. They’re never as neat and clean as modern humans might like. But they’ve been playing out for far longer than any of this built suburban infrastructure has been around. And they’ll be a thing long after those houses at the top of the hill decay back into nothingness.

We’ll mourn the trees. The other stuff not so much.

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #medwayvalley #forest #tree #winter #weather #wx #onstorm #naturephotography #landscapephotography #monochrome #photography #apple #iphone #iphone17 #shotoniphone

Related:
Back to green, May 2022
The giving tree, September 20202

1 comment:

Luis Serrano said...

UN entramado de ramas y pequeños arbustos que hacen realmente difícil el camino de regreso a casa. Impone pensar en el tiempo que esas ramas llevaran manteniéndose erguidas y dando sombras en primavera y verano. Ellas y ellos, los árboles llevan ahí mucho más tiempo que cualquiera de los habitantes de la zona y es verdad que da pena y un poco de rabia verlas en el suelo. Bueno es el ciclo de la Naturaleza y no hay mucho que hacer si la caída no es por una enfermedad del árbol.
Bonita fotografía.
Un abrazo