The spirit tree

The spirit tree stretching up to the sky (here are the leaves in all their glory) / New Jersey / August 2009

The mighty Japanese Red Maple tree had gotten too tall. It dwarfed the house. It dropped sap on the roof. The ants used it as a causeway to the porch. So mighty Paulo and his trusty helper cut and heaved and pulled and prayed and took all those huge branches down, leaving the trunk with only truncated branch stubs. The mighty red maple was left with just a few delicate leaves. Would the tree be able to overcome such a severe pruning? One day, several weeks later I noticed tiny clumps of bright red leaves all over trunk. The clumps grew bigger and spread up and down the tree. It was bursting out in beautiful blooms in places that had never bloomed before -- it not only survived, but it was thriving and growing. Now it is an ever-changing sculpture that grows more beautiful every day.