The Tangled Woods

Earlier this Fall, the leaves, while still on the trees, produced a spectacular display of colors. This was particularly true along the Brandywine River nearby.

Gradually, with wind and temperature and driving rain, the leaves have fallen from the trees, revealing the structure of each tree and each limb.

In the woods behind our house stand several trees -- mainly oak and walnut -- with very large trunks; they stretch perhaps 100 feet into the air. The majority of the trees, however, are tall but with smallish trunks, affected by competing with the larger trees for sunlight. All of them are rooted in a thin layer of soil over the rocky substrata of the area. When a Nor'easter blows up the coast from the South, one or two of the trees will lose their footing in the thin dirt and begin leaning. Seldom do the trees topple over, though, because they end up leaning on their neighbor, producing a tangled look.



Families are like that.

It is not so much for its beauty that the forest makes a claim upon men's hearts, as for that subtle something, that quality of air that emanates from old trees, that so wonderfully changes and renews a weary spirit.

~ Robert Louis Stevenson