…Heaven’s in our hearts…

Having spent the last couple of weeks in Mexico,  these photos and more will soon be added to the True Colors website, a photographic tribute to Mexico that I created during 2007. Each B/W photo is digitally superimposed with a central, colored version of the same.

~

Excerpt from “Heaven’s Here On Earth” by Tracy Chapman from her CD, “New Beginnings”:
Heaven’s here on earth
in our faith in humankind
in our respect for what is earthly
in our unfaltering belief in peace and love and understanding.
I’ve seen and met angels wearing the disguise of ordinary people leading ordinary lives,
filled with love compassion forgiveness and sacrifice.
Heaven’s in our hearts.

~

_________________________________________

i carry your heart with me by ee cummings

i carry your heart with me
(i carry it in my heart)
i am never without it (anywhere
i go you go my dear; and whatever is done
by only me is you doing, my darling
i fear no fate (for you are my fate, my sweet) i want
no world (for beautiful you are my world, my true)
and it’s whatever you are a moon has always meant
and whatever a sun will always sing is you.

here is the deepest secret nobody knows
(here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud
and the sky of a sky of a tree called life; which grows
higher than the soul can hope or mind can hide)
and this is the wonder that’s keeping the stars apart.
i carry your heart (i carry it in my heart)

 Somerset Maugham said, “There is never enough time for love and art”.

To elaborate:

There is not enough time for love of trees and art.

~

Originally posted September 11, 2008

This set of photos honors the efforts of a petition to halt construction on John’s Island, South Carolina that would encroach on an area of land boasting an Oak tree estimated to be between 1,400 and 1,500 years old.
Charleston, SC is proud of its heritage and respected for its commitment to preserving history in the area, so residents hope that plans will not proceed to cut down nearby trees and forest in favor of land development. Charleston, SC is proud of its heritage and respected for its commitment to preserving history in the area, and on the Angel Oak petition website, even if you don’t sign (but please do), you will still be able to read pages of interesting comments and pleas from residents who have fond memories of climbing the immense branches as children, and whose children now do the same; how a nearby elementary school carries its’ name, and exclamations by tourists who have visited the area specifically to see the Angel Oak.

This summer my husband and I drove through South Carolina and took a short detour to John’s Island. We drove through wicked rains at the edge of Tropical storm Faye, so when we arrived at Angel Oak park no one else was there. The tree trunk and lower branches are so immense, they have been propped up with stakes and heavy cables here and there, which is a little intrusive but obviously necessary. Growth is spread outward more than upward, occupying an enormous space at least 150 feet wide.

It occurred to me that this tree has lived through one serious chunk of history, and wondered what was happening on our planet when The Angel Oak was knee-high to an acorn? 1400 years ago it was the year 608 A.D., Common Era. Almost everything we are familiar with; our collective modern identity has been shaped by many of the events and people who lived and died since the Angel Tree established its first roots in the earth.

Angel Oak’s parent-tree was undoubtedly alive for centuries before and during the year 476 A.D. when the last of the Roman emperors died, bringing about the Fall of Rome. Around the 7th Century A.D. an acorn falls from one of the magnificent Oaks on the southeastern shores of a land only known to the indigenous peoples; a land we now refer to as North America. The acorn sprouts along with many others…but this one will outlive the rest, seasoning hurricanes, wars, and countless generations of playful children climbing it’s branches; it sprouts in conjunction with the collapse of Teotihuacan, one of the major cities in Mesoamerica with widespread influence in central Mexico. The Toltec civilization was unheard of, and would not flourish for another 500 years (1100-1521). Aztecs did not seize power until the 13th century.

When this tree was 300 years old during 901 A.D., the Vikings discovered Greenland. In 1066 William the Conqueror and the Norman troops conquered England altering the English culture forever by bringing French rule and rivalry with France until the The French Revolution occuring from 1789 – 1799. Circa 1100 A.D. the famous Buddhist temple, Angkor Wat in Cambodia is constructed to house the Hindu faith. Around 1275 A.D. Marco Polo, the Venetian explorer and trader visits China via the The Silk Road, returning to Europe with new foods and goods from the Orient which impact modern culture, medicine and dietary habits today.

The Black Death devastates Europe around 1348 A.D., while the 740 year old Angel Oak thrives. Columbus and other adventurers would not claim to discover America for another 144 years (C. 1592). Leonardo da Vinci, a man light-years ahead of his time in the field of science and medicine through his various studies. By the time he would paint the Mona Lisa and Michelangelo would paint the Sistine Chapel, the Angel Oak has lived for 900 years. The Tree continues growth beyond the life of Galileo, father of modern Astronomy, and through the life of Shakespeare, who established some of the most famous English literature in our era (c. 1564 – 1616).

Year 1776 – Angel Oak is 1,166 years old when the U.S. breaks free from British rule and establishes the first Independence Day In 1895, and by the time the Angel Oak had already survived for 1,287 winters Sigmund Freud would bring modern medicine and humanity into a new open-minded age by announcing his theories of dream psychoanalysis and studies of the human psyche.

The First World War between 1914-1918 was followed by WWII, 1939 -45/51.
According to after the Category 5 Hurricane Hugo hit the coast of in 1989, Governor Carroll Campbell is reported to say that the storm destroyed enough timber in South Carolina to frame a home for every family in the state of West Virginia. All those trees and forests obliterated, yet The Angel Oak survived. It has since healed injuries inflicted by Hurricane Hugo.

The petition page has so many interesting comments left by those who signed the petition.

~
I haphazardly plunked a few avocado pits into the soil six years ago and one of them is now over seven feet high. However, it’s too close to the house and if I had known it would grow three feet in height and width this past summer I would have transplanted it somewhere smarter early last Spring.

In the South there are no basements and the foundations of houses are more susceptible to cracking and deterioration; maintenance and prevention is critical. Now, Avocados are supposed to develop fruit the seventh year…this one possibly next year. What to do? Should I move it next Spring to some location with completely different light and soil conditions and risk it dying, or allow it to do what it will and perhaps enjoy a few home-grown avocados (a dream come true for a northern gardener), knowing that next year’s roots will be anticipating serious business as far as where they establish themselves…most likely in our foundation and the accompanying sprinkler system. The best decision is to move it sooner than later. We may not live here long enough to enjoy the fruits of our labor, but hopefully this tree will reestablish itself and produce fruit sometime soon, and it’s cool to think that someone – whoever, whenever - will enjoy fresh avocados from it.