1 October 2022 - MYSTERIOUS KAINDY LAKE - KAZAKHSTAN

 

MYSTERIOUS

 KAINDY LAKE 

- KAZAKHSTAN -

G'day folks,

Here, submerged trees jut ghost-like out of an idyllic turquoise mountain lake. 

Kaindy Lake is an idyllic mountain lake in Kazakhstan’s portion of the Tian Shan Mountains, close to the country’s largest city, Almaty. The lake was formed after an earthquake in 1911, which caused a major landslide, effectively creating a natural dam. Successively, rainwater filled the valley and created the lake.

 

The lake is famous for the number of dead and bleached spruce trees that stick out of the water – remnants of the trees that were flooded when the lake was formed. The trees, together with the improbable turquoise water of the lake, make an incredibly scenic sight. Underwater, the imagery is even more stunning, as the trees have not decomposed and create the surreal vision of an underwater forest.

 

Surprisingly, the lake sees few visitors, partly because Kaindy Lake is overshadowed by the more famous Bolshoe Almatinskoe Lake and the Kolsay Lakes, all of which are close by, but far easier to reach from Almaty. Thus, despite its proximity to a city with a population of more than one million, the lake retains a peaceful atmosphere.

10 October 2022 - THE FAMOUS CENTURY TREE - TEXAS

 

THE FAMOUS 

CENTURY TREE 

- TEXAS -

G'day folks,

Campus tradition says couples who walk beneath this enormous oak will stay together forever.  

In the shade of an enormous live oak tree on the campus of Texas A&M University, tradition and superstition collide. Marriage proposals, weddings, and many a gathering have occurred beneath its drooping branches.

Planted around the time the university was first established in 1876, the Century Tree is the largest and one of the oldest trees on campus. But its size and age aren’t what make this tree so intriguing.

 

According to campus legend, those who walk beneath the big, beautiful oak with another person will always be connected to that someone for life. Couples believe proposals under these centuries-old branches mean their marriage and love will last eternally. Thus, many couples have passed under and proposed within its shadow.

Superstition also dictates that those who walk under the branches alone will forever live a life of loneliness and will never find their true love. So, many single students have avoided the Century Tree altogether.

This particular tree is among the most cared-for plants on campus. Braces have been installed to keep its large, twisting branches from breaking off from the trunk.

 

20 August 2022 - TREEPOD RESTAURANT - THAILAND

 

TREEPOD RESTAURANT

 - THAILAND -

G'day folks,

Here, you can eat dinner in the trees, and eat like a bird in a bamboo nest. 

The Treepod Restaurant on the island of Koh Kood, Thailand, may be the only eatery in the world where the servers wear harnesses.

 

Diners must make a short trek through the island’s beachside rainforest to reach their “pod.” These egg-shaped, handmade structures are built by a resident craftsman from locally sourced bamboo and rattan, and resemble the nests of native birds. The pods are hoisted by electric cables 36 feet in the air to float among the rainforest canopy. Patrons enjoy unobstructed views of the Gulf of Thailand while their waiter soars through the massang trees on zip-lines with their food. Much of the menu is sourced from the eco-resort’s organic garden, featuring Thai classics, seafood, and fresh fruit platters.

 

The real-life dreamscape is the brainchild of Graham Grant, manager of Soneva Kiri Resort, which owns the Treepod Restaurant. The eco-resort is true to its nature, sourcing its building materials locally and banning imported bottled water. Koh Kood is a large and sparsely populated island, allowing visitors to spend some alone time with the birds, like birds themselves.

16 June 2022 - THE JESUS TREE in MALTA

 

THE JESUS TREE 

in MALTA

 

G'day folks,

The Jesus tree of Malta bears a striking resemblance to Christ on the cross. 

According to Maltese legend, a local tree was struck by lightning many years ago, and changed in appearance. Its contorted bark metamorphosed into an image of Jesus hanging from the cross.

Although the Catholic Church officially recognizes miracles, it has declared that these types of apparitions are no longer worthy of “public revelation.”

The issue of public vs. private revelation has been a contentious one for the Church, but was recently clarified by the current pope, Joseph Ratzinger. Ratzinger declared that public revelations (essentially big, flashy miracles), ended with the death of the last living Apostle in 100 A.D.

 

Apparitions, even though officially recognized by the church, are now deemed to be “private revelations,” which means one doesn’t have to believe in them. Such revelations are binding on whoever has them, but not upon all Catholics.

Of course, for non-believers the tree is neither public nor private revelation, but rather an example of the psychological phenomenon of pareidolia, the perception of meaningful significance in a meaningless, random stimulus. Regardless of religion, these sorts of images of Jesus, Mary, the name of Allah, or a Singaporean monkey god, continue to appear in the oddest of places, and to intrigue the faithful.

The Jesus Tree of Malta is located right off the main road from Zebbug to the walled city of Mdina, the former home of the Knights Hospitalier.

 

21 January 2022 - STUNNING AVENUE OF BAOBABS

 

STUNNING AVENUE 

OF BAOBABS

G'day folks,

The centuries old trees lining both sides of this dirt road may become Madagascar's first natural monument. 

The dirt road on the west coast of Madagascar linking Morondava and Belo Tsiribihina is framed by dozens of rare and ancient baobab trees creating a setting so beautiful and unique that it may become the country’s first official natural monument.

These giant, dry season-deciduous trees (members of the Mallow family), many of which are more than 800 years old with trunks that are over 150 feet around did not always stand alone. At one time the trees dotting the lane were part of a rich forest of the trees and other plants, but the encroachment of modern civilization and increasing populations in the area led to massive deforestation leaving the remaining baobabs to stand in relative isolation. There are also a handful of the ancient trees remaining in the outlying areas but both the trees along the road otherwise are under near-constant threat of destruction. When Arab seafarers first visited a bit over 1000 years ago, they said the devil ripped them out of the ground and put them back upside down, for their canopies resemble roots.

Thankfully, private organizations have taken notice of the site and are now promoting efforts to have the avenue protected, making it the country’s first nationally recognized natural monument, so that the trees might survive for another 800 years to come.  Baobabs are incredibly useful plants, their trunks are harmlessly tapped for water during the dry season and have even been lived in, the young leaves (when reachable) are eaten as a salad vegetable when little else is available, and the nutritious sour brown pulp (tasting somewhat like tamarind) of the hard-shelled fruits is made into a pleasant summertime beverage all over Africa, and is also an ingredient in a Senegalese peanut and couscous dessert pudding called Ngalakh. These trees are popular in novelty gardens around the warmer parts of the Mediterranean and sometimes show up in southern California, they are hardy to plant hardiness zone 10a (minimum of 30 to 35 F) and will not survive more than 8 to 10 hours in the snow. Another peculiar fact is that baobabs blossom, but the blooming period is very short, only about 24 hours.

Clancy's comment: Stunning trees. Stunning avenue.

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15 January 2022 - THE CEDAR AVENUE OF NIKKO - JAPAN

 

 

THE CEDAR AVENUE 

OF NIKKO

 - JAPAN -

G'day folks,

Stretching for 22 miles, the world's longest tree-lined avenue dates back to the early 17th-century. 

Despite not being a single continuous road, the Cedar Avenue of Nikkō is listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as the longest tree-lined avenue in the world. It’s also the only cultural property designated by the Japanese government as both a Special Historic Site and a Special Natural Monument.

After the death of Tokugawa Ieyasu, the founder of the Tokugawa shogunate, the grand Nikkō Tōshōgū shrine was established to entomb his remains. Samurai lords from across the country traveled to Nikkō to visit his grave and pay respect to the great shogun, and the road from Edo (today’s Tokyo) to Nikkō was rapidly renovated. Matsudaira Masatsuna, a samurai lord who served Ieyasu in his youth, began planting cryptomeria trees imported from Kii Province to honor his former master, continueing to plant them for over 20 years until his death. By 1648, about 15,000 trees had been planted along the Cedar Avenue.

 

After Masatsuna’s death, the trees were handed over to the governor of Nikkō, who tended them with the utmost care. Despite numerous discussions of lumbering, the Cedar Avenue was protected and preserved by both the government and the public. Even today, nearly 400 years after the first planting, about 12,500 trees have survived despite the road still being active.

Because of vehicle exhaust emissions and development in the area, an average of more than 100 trees die every year, putting Cedar Avenue in danger of disappearing in less than 100 years at the current pace. To protect this historic site, Tochigi Prefecture established an “ownership program”: those who wish can purchase one of the trees for 10 million yen (approx. 95,000 USD), which funds conservation of the trees. Currently, 412 people own 553 of the cryptomeria trees along the Cedar Avenue of Nikkō.

Clancy's comment: Extraordinary! What a fabulous avenue.

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3 January 2022 - THE ENCHANTED FOREST - CALIFORNIA

 

THE ENCHANTED FOREST

 - CALIFORNIA -

G'day folks,

Here is a grove of "candelabra redwoods" deep in California's Lost Coast. 

Deep in the Lost Coast of Northern California, one stand of peculiar redwood trees survived multiple logging efforts that cleared most of the old-growth in the surrounding forest. 

Salty ocean air and frequent harsh ocean winds through Shady Dell are thought to have caused these trees to fracture repeatedly but remain alive, and the broken trunks continue growing towards the sky, culminating in the bizarre candelabra-shaped forms we see today. Staff involved in redwood conservation say they’ve never seen redwoods twisted in this fashion anywhere else.

 

While their unique shapes make them beautiful to behold, it is thought that this is also what enabled them to survive the logging that carried off so much of California’s old-growth redwoods; they were too twisted to be of much use to the lumber mills.

Clancy's comment: Sad and mysterious, but nature refuses to give up.

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16 December 2021 - THE FAMOUS BOWTHORPE OAK TREE

 

THE FAMOUS 

BOWTHORPE OAK TREE

G'day folks,

England’s ancient oak tree has such an impressive girth, people have been hosting parties within the hollow trunk for centuries.  

In a field in south Lincolnshire stands one of Britain’s greatest trees: the Bowthorpe Oak, an ancient survivor that may well have witnessed more than 1,000 years of English history.

The Bowthorpe Oak stands in a paddock at Bowthorpe Farm near Manthorpe village. The first references to the tree date back to the 1760s and describe the tree’s hollow trunk being smoothed out by the then Squire of Bowthorpe, who created a room inside the oak in which he could entertain as many as 20 guests at a sit-down dinner.

The oak, however, was around long before the gregarious Squire of Bowthorpe decided to use it as a dining room. Experts aren’t entirely sure of the tree’s true age, but the current consensus is that it’s at least 800 years old and perhaps dates back more than a millennium.

The estimated age of possibly 1,000 years or more makes the Bowthorpe Oak likely the oldest oak tree in England and one of the oldest in Europe. Also, as many humans in their later years can attest, with advancing age comes expanding girth. The Bowthorpe Oak has slowly expanded to achieve a most impressive girth of 43.6 feet (13.3 meters), larger than any other pedunculate oak (Quercus robur) in the United Kingdom.

 Today, the hollow tree serves a variety of purposes. Livestock sometimes take shelter in its ancient interior, and humans are known to throw the occasional party within the walls of the gnarled old trunk. Of course, nature lovers, tree aficionados, and other dendrophiles also come to Bowthorpe Farm just to visit the oak, to marvel at its mighty girth and imagine all that it has seen.

Clancy's comment: Imagine what that tree has seen in the past 1,000 years.

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18 September 2021 - PHOTOS OF THE WORLD'S OLDEST TREES

 

PHOTOS OF THE WORLD'S

 OLDEST TREES 

G'day folks,

Beth Moon, who is a photographer based out of San Fransisco, has been looking for the worlds oldest tree for the last 14 years. 

 

Because of her interest in these trees, she’s been able to travel the world looking for the oldest tree in even the most remote of locations. She wrote, “Standing as the earth’s largest and oldest living monuments, I believe these symbolic tress will take on a greater significance, especially at a time when our focus is directed at finding better ways to live with the environment.” Luckily for us, Beth Moon is releasing a book called, “Ancient Trees: Portraits of Time” and we have a sneak peek!

 

Clancy's comment: These pictures definitely showcase how important the world is, and the impression we can have on all living things around us after we are gone. It’s important to take care of the world we are a part of, so future generations can be as lucky as we are, surrounded by pure beauty.

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