Foto Friday 01 – The Dreaming Tree

Once upon a time, there was a tree...

The Dreaming Tree

Welcome to Foto Friday, a new section here at TFTD, in which I share images I have taken over the years, accompanied by a quote, poem or tune. Nothing too long, nor too short, just enough to appease the senses.

For the first issue, I chose an image I took somewhere in the Highlands (I think it might have been near Ben Nevis, can’t be sure) with my old EOS 650 back in March 1998 on my epic backpacking tour through Scotland. We took the ferry to Hull where we started our journey, drove north, and made many stops along the way, past York, Jedburgh, Melrose, Edinburgh, Stirling, Loch Lomond (THE RAIN!), Oban, Isle of Mull and always north past Fort William up to the Old Man of Stoer, twenty-six stops in total. I still have the map with the route inked in with a black marker. Yes, we used a map (the ones that don’t need batteries) to find our way around. No, there were no smartphones to tell you where to go. Did we get lost? Only on purpose! But that is a tale for another day.

It just so happened that around the same time (April 1998), the Dave Matthews Band released their album Before These Crowded Streets. Here’s Track Nr. 9 “The Dreaming Tree.”

Now, I could tell you that this is a masterpiece, that they were nominated for a Grammy for Best Rock Album in 1999 (Sheryl Crow won that one) and all the other facts you can look up on the interwebs these days using your extended consciousness¹, I mean… your smartphone.

I can tell you as much though by just listening. It is not a “happy” song. A man looking back, seeing how the world has changed, innocence lost, dreams shattered, a woman reminiscing about the time when she was young. But… is it a good song? Let me know what you think.

When I took that image, the album had been out only for a few days and I did not know of it, nor would I until years later. Going through my photos today, wondering what image I should choose, which year I should pick and from thereon go forward in time, or backwards, I stumbled upon this old scan. It is not very sharp, and there was a lot of dust and specks I cleaned up—the slide is in a pitiful state, you see. I really must digitise them all one day. Of the many photos of solitary trees that I have taken, this is one of my favourites, maybe because of all the memories attached to it. Moments in time, remembered until forgotten forever.

Time… I leave you with a line from the poem Calmly We Walk through This April’s Day by Delmore Schwartz.

Time is the school in which we learn,
Time is the fire in which we burn.

I hope you enjoy this first Foto Friday edition and please let me know your thoughts in the comments below.

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