A hint of infinity appears as parallel rows of naked walnut trees begin to narrow in the distance. A shaft of light pierces a floating cloud and highlights the end of the closing corridors. Shadows flicker across the mowed weeds and pasture grass. At a distance, the lush green carpet appears soft. Up close, it is a motley mix of common weeds.
Bare limbed, with short skirts of foreign bark as their foundation, the walnut trees stand with arms outstretched over a flock of black birds sifting through the green stubble. The cluster of birds fly, leapfrog, from ground to limbs, to ground, to limbs, to ground, like speckled, transparent waves chasing each other. The steady, up and down, flow of gossiping busyness creates an undercurrent of chatter which dampens the hissing sound of the nearby two lane highway.
The slant of the sun exposes one side of the tree revealing small clumps of green gray moss. The underbelly of each limb is pale white marble, smooth and cool to touch.
The lace canopy of dormant branches creates an aviary. One blue bird lands above, straddles a tentacle, then hops from side to side, tilting his head to get a better view.
The trees quietly soldier on, holding their position. They demonstrate perfect order, an agricultural roll call, silently proclaiming their purpose.
A brown withered leaf clings stubbornly and survives the wobbling of the bare branches in the light wind. The buds are vise tight, sealed against frost, waiting for their appointed time.
The orchard is a series of extended halls filled with the music of narcissistic feathered minstrels that drown out everything, but their own existence.
Each tree has several gaping holes, unseeing alien eyes that stare from puffy skin rolled over and tucked under the dark edges of each shallow opening. The blank stares captivate the visitor and all sense of the dividing highway is smothered by nature’s immense, immediate, all encompassing charisma.
Catalina
copyright 2009
Catalina and Chris
"I remember loving sound before I ever took a music lesson. And so we make our lives by what we love."
John Cage
