The blasted trunk, hit by lightening, stands it’s ground in the middle of a footpath. As a stately thing, the tree rules over young sweet chestnuts. Though dead as a dodo and sloughing away its lignified dead cells bit by by, it provides the ultimate wildlife habitat. A sculpture too, to be coveted for a large garden.
This trunk harbours beetles and hole-nesting birds. Could be good for bats as well. It is stuffed with invertebrates living inside it in the damp rotting wood and under the peeling bark. Not to mention spiders, lichens and all the things that like to munch on them.
It is a dead thing heaving with life.
Wonderful post, Catherine. It reminds us about the cycle of nature and how invitable this is….
Excellent. It’s astounding how quickly nature can adapt. Even in death, life goes on.
How very true and perceptive too.
What a magnificent tree stump! It is beautiful with all of its knotholes and texture. I love the post and your thoughts on how alive the dead tree is.
Trees give so much as they grow and as they die and are reclaimed…lovely
I love this… I wish the dead tree in my back yard looked even 1/4 as good.