My get pushed challenge this past week was to take a photo of the ugly. Wow! That's hard! I don't go out in search of the ugly. I try to avoid it at all costs! And tho there are times when I feel like all I can see is ugly (like the dead of winter), and there are other times I feel like I can't find anything beautiful, searching out the ugly is much harder than I thought! So it's been an adventure this week to try to see things differently, and I learned two things. First of all, as I was searching for ugly, I found a whole lot of beautiful and have ended up being much more active with my camera this week than I've been lately. Secondly, I found out there was a line between what I was willing to photograph and what I wasn't willing to photograph even when there was beauty to be found in it. Surprising, and yet not. So Joan, I have to thank you for your challenge on more levels than I could have imagined!
So this is the tree off our back patio that is home to a family of robins every spring. We have loved watching the parents build their nest, sit on the eggs, search for food to feed the babies, take quick baths in the pond, and even come to somewhat of an acceptance of our presence and stalk us as we gardened and uncovered worms for them. We've rescued a baby that fell out one year. We've sadly seen black birds kill off the babies one year. And one year I was even able to video one of the babies' first flight out of the nest! It's been an awesome adventure thanks to this tree.
But the winter of 2013/2014 was cold, much colder than normal for our area, and it didn't let up. And this guy suffered. Tho he drops a few leaves throughout the year, he doesn't lose them over the winter, and each year he puts on a few new ones in the spring. But that cold winter, we watched his leaves crumple and die, and that spring he only put out a few new ones on his bottom branches. The guy at the plant nursery advised us to watch him for a year before making any decisions, so we watched him lose all his leaves again this winter. But this spring, he has put out more new leaves than he did last spring, so we have a little hope. Maybe we'll figure out a way to prune him to give him some shape but get rid of his dead top.
So this is my first ugly photo, but ugly for reasons other than aesthetics.
Well, I said you decide how to define Ugly. So this is a good shot. Because you are willing to let the tree heal itself against the ravishes of winters. I knew too that you would accept my attempt at a face. We just love taking pictures and that is our bond.
