The ancient oak trees that have populated our Northern California ranch for hundreds of years became the subject of my icons after the devastating wild fires of 2017. Many of the Madrones, Buckeyes, Digger Pines, and Bay trees have started to regrow. Some of the oaks appeared to survive, but have taken their “tree-time” to slowly cut back on the new growth they send via magic mitochondria from their roots to the ends of their branches. Their massive limbs began to die back and break off in the wind. Even the abundant rains of 2023 tested the oak trees’ strength to hold up the renewed growth in their canopies that dropped with the increased weight of new leaves. However, the oaks persevered long enough to produce and plant 5 years of acorns. These baby trees are nurtured and implanted with the wisdom of their mother-trees before they disappear from the horizon and become new growth in the form of fungi to feed the nursery.
The Live Oak symbolizes this circle of life imbedded in the universe as expressed in Psalm 104:
The Lord is joy and compassion
Patience and unchanging love.
His law extends into the galaxies
And into the atom’s core.
In place photos:
