Last week I shared this image on Facebook as a precursor to Halloween.
That led me to share several more as the week passed for my local friends who are familiar with Mount Pollux. These maple trees are icons. Or they were. As you can see, the one furthest has some rot issues that led to the tree’s demise last year. However some of it remains as pieces of the trunk were made into stools for visitors to sit upon and watch the sunsets.
As my Flashback Friday post, I’ll share some of those images in appreciation of the two, sadly now one.
All things must pass, but that’s a melancholy refrain that is part of life. It’s better most often to celebrate our memories than to dwell on mourning our losses (after a bit of time goes by, of course).
Stephen Gingold Nature Photography Blog 
Hear, hear! Celebrate the memories.
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Indeed. 🙂
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Nice glowing memories
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Thanks, Robert.
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I love this set — and of course I hear the sound of fiddle and fiddlesticks in the background. I suppose the wood of the lost trees wouldn’t do at all for fiddlesticks, but it still pleases me to think that someone might have given it a try, and preserved a bit of the trees’ history in that way.
I would have said the third was my favorite, but then I saw the last, with the Belt of Venus, and I had to reconsider. The Belt was especially vibrant here this morning; I’m hoping for clear weather on the next full moon, since I’d love to have a better photo of the moon-in-the-belt.
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Yes, fiddle and fiddlesticks would have been a nice soundtrack.
And who knows, maybe some of that tree was made into fiddlesticks. Besides the seating, small pieces were left for folks to take as mementos. The stump is still there, but maybe the roots would make good spoons and that might lead to spoon music.
The third is my favorite. And you can see just to its right one of the trees planted in anticipation of its coming down with a couple of stakes to train it to grow straight.
The full moon in the belt is one of, if not the, my favorite compositions. I hope you catch yours soon. Only 10 days until the full Beaver Moon.
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These photos are beautiful!
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Thank you, Maddy.
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A beautiful, moving tribute.
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Thanks, Michael. I wish I had started photographing them earlier but have a nice collection from the last several years.
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Requiescat in pace.
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Amen.
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It’s always sad to lose a beautiful, stately tree. Your photos reveal the majesty of these two.
(I’ve never been to Mt. Pollux…I’ll have to remedy that!)
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Thank you, Eliza. It’s a wonderful vantage point for views of the full moon rising and setting, the Holyoke Range, and looking north over Amherst and on to the Sugarloafs…or should that be Sugarloaves? 🙂
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You are right, Steve. Time does not heal our pain, but alleviates some of it. These shorter, colder days are always associated with melancholy thoughts.
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Yes, S.A.D. causes a lot of depression for folks. We learn how to cope with loss and time is a healer.
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So New England! Beautiful.
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We are lucky to live in such beauty.
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