a line of trees

     yesterday i was reminded as a friend inquired into what type of log i was carving.  i remarked ,that is was a ponderosa pine with a story attached.

     at this point i need to add a disclaimer.  normally in the amish every day duties i forbid myself to directly take pictures of them in public , out of respect for their religion as i know that this is something they frown upon for the most part. but as in this picture i was at a public event where they made every effort to put themselves in the public spot light so in actuality i was just taking a photo of that neat red truck in the background, and the amish family selling ice cream made on a horse powered treadmill, were simply in my road as the sun gleaming down provided the right light. you must capture these moments when you can.

      as you can see the amish guy with the sunglasses  was not to impressed with my artistic endeavors , and in some way reminded me of the amish mafia i had heard so much about. with his you touch a my a horse i break-a-you-a face expression. again i digress. so most of my amish pics are from a distance and usually are limited to empty carriages. 

      the story about the ponderosa pine and the amish goes back to a tale of tradition as amish would plant a row of trees behind the house after they built it to signify each member of the family. first the mother and the father , and then one for each child born until it would form a line of trees.  and as they would depart from the earth a tree would be cut down from that line. this would allow the passerby on the road in front of the house to immediately realize a member of the family had passed. likewise if one was born into the family a tree was planted in honor of the occasion. although not as important as an older tree still significant in the eyes of the amish. 

      as the trees shall grow, and  the winds shall blow , so shall the lives bend, and at times shall end.-k.davis 

      i am not a big fan of cutting trees down to create carvings and have been asked to carve live trees, of which i will also have no part in. there are plenty of salvageable logs to create carvings in .  as long as a tree is growing then i say let it grow. if you are taking the tree down and was going to cut the log into firewood. i will gladly carve it , if i am able. so this ponderosa pine with a story was exactly that. a tree they were going to take down anyway and the last in a row of trees with the family having sold the property to developers, and moving elsewhere. where the times were simpler and land not so pricey.  yet so goes some of the long forgotten traditions to somewhere else, but to where the tree came from, it is just memories. 

     this is my neice's son and his name would be gunner.