Tangled...

Recently, one of my picture-taking themes has been branches. I can only give credit to my plant-loving mother for this, as it came up while I was taking her for a wheelchair ride through the gardens of Clarewood House. She does love to get outside, and to watch things grow. It is truly painful to her to see a plant neglected to where it dies. She was commenting on a stately oak tree on the grounds, one of many, whose huge branches spread so gracefully that they become subjects for artists in residence who still practice their skills.

The next chance I had, I ventured out onto the path leading from our new visitors' center down to the historic property, taking pictures of every interesting view of branches I could find. Of course, we all are taught of the basic symmetry of nature, and the way trees' branches erupt is a perfect example - and each species and each tree has its own symmetry. But what of this tangle above? Each of the parts has its own life entering the fray. Each is healthy on its own. Each comes out healthy on the other side. Kind of like a family.

I would not go so far as to say our family is "tangled", as for some reason, that might have a negative connotation to it. But there are many variables in each of our adult lives right now, all to be worked through in the next 5 years or so. It's not a bad thing to have a tangle as long as you can be gentle finding your way out of it. It takes lots of patience, and no rash moves.