View allAll Photos Tagged tree
My liquidambar tree glowing in the morning sun.
Computer update: Yesterday I ran out of file space on my 1TB hard drive. First thing this morning I ordered a 2TB external hard drive, which arrived this afternoon, and I planned to move my photos on to it. When I tried to restart my computer, it wouldn't restart. Called Apple Care (my computer is an iMac) and they were wonderful, but nothing they suggested worked. When at their direction, I tried to reinstall the OS, a message came up that there wasn't enough free disk space. So, again at their direction, I wiped the hard drive and am now reinstalling from the last good backup (from this morning). Currently, the process says it will be finished in about 21 hours!. I'm glad I have my laptop to work with.
--------------------------
Canon t4i / Canon EF-S 18-55mm
Lightroom 5
--------------------------
© Ron Anthony Bautista ~ All rights reserved
More Places to find me:
500px • DeviantArt • Tumblr
--------------------------
Rowan has had a wide range of popular folk names, the most well-know being mountain ash. Delight of the eye (Luisliu), Mountain ash, Quickbane, Quickbeam, Quicken (tree), Quickenbeam, Ran tree, Roan tree, Roden-quicken, Roden-quicken-royan, Round wood, Round tree, Royne tree, Rune tree, Sorb apple, Thor's helper, Whispering tree, Whitty, Wicken-tree, Wiggin, Wiggy, Wiky, Witch wood, Witchbane, Witchen, Witchen Wittern tree.
Its old Gaelic name from the ancient Ogham script was Luis from which the place name Ardlui on Loch Lomond may have been derived. The more common Scots Gaelic name is caorunn (pronounced choroon, the ch as in loch), which crops up in numerous Highland place names such as Beinn Chaorunn in Inverness-shire and Loch a'chaorun in Easter Ross. Rowan was also the clan badge of the Malcolms and McLachlans.
There were strong taboos in the Highlands against the use of any parts of the tree save the berries, except for ritual purposes. For example a Gaelic threshing tool made of rowan and called a buaitean was used on grain meant for rituals and celebrations. The strength of these taboos did not apply in other parts of Britain it seems, though there were sometimes rituals and timings to be observed in harvesting the rowan's gifts, for example the rule against using knives to cut the wood.
The rowan's mythic roots go back to classical times. Greek mythology tells of how Hebe the goddess of youth, dispensed rejuvenating ambrosia to the gods from her magical chalice. When, through carelessness, she lost this cup to demons, the gods sent an eagle to recover the cup. The feathers and drops of blood which the eagle shed in the ensuing fight with the demons fell to earth, where each of them turned into a rowan tree. Hence the rowan derived the shape of its leaves from the eagle's feathers and the appearance of its berries from the droplets of blood.
The rowan is also prominent in Norse mythology as the tree from which the first woman was made, (the first man being made from the ash tree). It was said to have saved the life of the god Thor by bending over a fast flowing river in the Underworld in which Thor was being swept away, and helping him back to the shore. Rowan was furthermore the prescribed wood on which runes were inscribed to make rune staves.
In the British Isles the rowan has a long and still popular history in folklore as a tree which protects against witchcraft and enchantment. The physical characteristics of the tree may have contributed to its protective reputation, including the tiny five pointed star or pentagram on each berry opposite its stalk (the pentagram being an ancient protective symbol). The colour red was deemed to be the best protection against enchantment, and so the rowan's vibrant display of berries in autumn may have further contributed to its protective abilities, as suggested in the old rhyme: "Rowan tree and red thread / make the witches tine (meaning 'to lose') their speed". The rowan was also denoted as a tree of the Goddess or a Faerie tree by virtue (like the hawthorn and elder) of its white flowers.
There are several recurring themes of protection offered by the rowan. The tree itself was said to afford protection to the dwelling by which it grew, pieces of the tree were carried by people for personal protection from witchcraft, and sprigs or pieces of rowan were used to protect especially cows and their dairy produce from enchantment. Thus we find documented instances as late as the latter half of the twentieth century of people being warned against removing or damaging the rowan tree growing in their newly acquired garden in the Scottish Highlands and Ireland. On the Isle of Man crosses made from rowan twigs without the use of a knife were worn by people and fastened to cattle, or hung inside over the lintel on May Eve each year. From Scotland to Cornwall similar equal-armed crosses made from rowan twigs and bound with red thread were sewn into the lining of coats or carried in pockets. Other permutations of the use of rowan's protective abilities are many and widespread. In Scandinavia, rowan trees found growing not in the ground but out of some inaccessible cleft in a rock, or out of crevasses in other trees' trunks or boughs, possessed an even more powerful magic, and such trees were known as 'flying rowan'.
The rowan's wood is strong and resillient, making excellent walking sticks, and is suitable for carving. It was often used for tool handles, and spindles and spinning wheels were traditionally made of rowan wood. Druids used the bark and berries to dye the garments worn during lunar ceremonies black, and the bark was also used in the tanning process. Rowan twigs were used for divining, particularly for metals.
The berries can be made into or added to a variety of alcoholic drinks, and different Celtic peoples each seem to have had their favourites. As well as the popular wine still made in the Highlands, the Scots made a strong spirit from the berries, the Welsh brewed an ale, the Irish used them to flavour Mead, and even a cider can be made from them. Today rowan berry jelly is still made in Scotland and is traditionally eaten with game. www.treesforlife.org.uk/forest/mythfolk/rowan.html
Cracking Tree St James's Park, Westminster London November 2014
Copyrighted © Jaydeep Mistry. All Rights Reserved
Hurricane David, a Category 5 storm, hit the island of Dominica on August 29th, 1979. This tree was blown down, onto the empty school bus parked there...
A random tree in a random forest in Washington. I stopped for a break on my drive up to Seattle and found this beautiful spot :)
Hassselblad 500CM | Fuji Provia 100F
Please visit my blog: www.ericbryan.net/blog
or check out my web site: www.ericbryan.net
Lonely tree on the top of Mam Tor in the UK Peak District, back-lit through the sun and rain.
The tree's set back about 10-15 metres from all the other trees there, you can see how it stands alone in the previous shot. As Dave pointed out it's quite eye-catching and you end up noticing all the time when you look up at the peak.
I think that I shall never see
A poem lovely as a tree,
A tree whose hungry mouth is prest
Against the earth's sweet flowing breast;
A tree that looks at God aft day,
And lifts her leafy arms to pray;
A tree that may in Summer wear
A nest of robins in her hair;
Upon whose bosom snow has lain;
Who intimately lives with rain.
Poems are made by fools like me,
But only God can make a tree.
Late afternoon shot taken near Delamere .
Busy week this week , so may not be here much , so i would like to wish you all a Merry Christmas and happy new year :)
Thanks to all my contacts for your comments and faves throughout 2010 :)
My first roll of medium format. Love the sharpness with this camera & lens and can't wait to try portraits. Processing and scan by NCPS.
Mamiya C330 w/ Mamiya Sekor 80mm f/2.8, Provia 100F