Favourite Tree

On Monday I was stopped in my tracks by the traffic lights going out of town. Although I was keen to get to work it was fortuitous. In the first light of the morning I was able to admire a tree dressed in its autumn finery. What a spectacular start to the day!

I love trees. Who doesn’t? Come to think of it I’ve never come across a tree hater. They’re the cuddly guys of the plant world, always ready for a hug. This is my favourite tree, bowed by the wind but not defeated by it. It lives in the hinterland of the South Hams on one of a maze of lanes off the road from Totnes to Kingsbridge that’s between the sea and main A-road adjoining the two towns I used it often during the sixteen years that I worked in those parts. It was meant to be a shortcut but invariably I’d get lost even at the end of the time that I used those rural rat runs. My internal compass is truly shagged. I could get lost in a phone box!

I’d wanted to take a picture of my favourite tree for ages but, to do so meant blocking the road, upsetting farmers and tourists alike. Happily one day I got stuck in exactly the right stop. Two trucks were having a stand off and I wasn’t going anywhere soon. Another time when being stopped in my tracks when I was in a rush to get somewhere worked out rather well!