Non-Canyon views

This first picture I have shared possibly multiple times.  But it is a picture that shows so much how I view the world.  You can look at the canyon and see only the depth of the canyon.  Or you can look at the tree high up at the top edge of the canyon and see how it the canyon below looks similar to the shadow of the tree.

Canyon Mimics the shadow of a tree

There were so many interesting trees.  The area around the Grand Canyon is a hard life for trees and wildlife.  The wind blows hard, there is a thin layer of ground over rocks and granite and yet trees grow tall and strong.

Tall and gnarly

Just because the trees die does not mean that it always gets cut down.  The trees are allowed to return naturally into the ground.  The bugs that infest them are eaten by birds until the trees can stand no longer and fall down to the ground.  Until that time, they add a different texture to the landscape.


Roots up?

I saw this tree below and I really wanted to get up close and explore it.  The long root over the ground.  The short but stubbly branches.  Hmmm it almost looks like a Bonsai tree that hasn't been trimmed.

Just plain gnarly

The tree below quickly caught my attention.  It was hanging onto life and yet at the same time twisted with the strains of life.  Some branches that have already fallen at it's base.  You can focus on what the strains of life have done to the tree over the years or you can focus how it is hanging onto life.

Twisted

The clear cut on the top of this tree shows that for some reason the park rangers decided that this tree was too dangerous to remain intact.  Although some of the roots dug down into the ground below, many of the roots ran along the top of the ground. Roots help to sustain life.  They also anchor the tree.  These roots continued to grow despite that fact that they ran along the top of the ground.

The Octopus

This downed tree is in the process of composting.  The wind and birds will plant seeds along the trunk and new life will emerge from the dead tree.  The nutrition that it captured during it's life will continue to sustain life.


Giving back to the next generation

I heard the sweet songs of a bird.  When I looked around I noticed this tiny little bird in the shade of the of this branch that was hanging over the edge of the canyon.  Sitting on a branch under it's very own "umbrella" watching the people below.  I wondered, "Does this tiny bird fly up and down the canyon or is it one that chooses to soar around the top?  Little bird, what do you see through your tiny little eyes?"

The Bird's Umbrella

Can you see the bird?  I took a bit of a close up (below).  If you follow the inside arch of the branch, about half-way around you can see the bird. It almost looks like a thick branch up close to the tree.

Can you see the bird better?