~the Earlysville White Oak (in a video...)~

Since late December of 2007, I've stopped and photographed an old white oak just outside of Earlysville, Virginia whenever I could.  It was often when I was leaving town after visiting my Mother who was battling lung cancer - and now it is during visits to see my Father, who has since been diagnosed with vascular dementia.  It has become nothing less than a ritual - one of those comforting things that you do amidst less than comforting times.  But tonight as I write this, I realize that I've also been steadily documenting this tree that has lived more years than either you or I might imagine to live.  I've come across the term witness trees before, and while I have no idea whether civil war-era bullets will ever be found in this white oak, I can imagine that it was a worthy place to stop - for a lengthy conversation, a meal, or a night's rest for Civil War troops who found themselves traveling through this part of Virginia.  If only trees could talk...

 So between Christmas and New Years, I received an email by someone (1mandomaker) who had crafted a video for the song "Sticks That Made Thunder" by the Nashville-based group The Steeldrivers.  The song is written by Mike Henderson and Chris Stapleton - and is about American Civil War events as told from a tree's perspective.  The image chosen for the video - for the tree - is one that I first posted on 27 December 2007.  The video now has just under 83,000 hits - and it makes me smile that this beautiful white oak, considered the second oldest in Virginia, sitting alongside a Charlottesville-Albemarle airport runway (the airport is now caring for it), has been viewed so many times.  It's one of the trees included in the book Remarkable Trees of Virginia.  It's a deserving tree.

 

Comments

[John B.]

It must be quite gratifying to have your image chosen to accompany any song, but especially a pretty-good song. Thanks for the pictures, as always, and thanks for introducing me to some good music.

[Jess]

how cool! I went to school at UVa and I'm definitely wondering exactly where this tree is!

[katherine]

this post makes me smile! you are one hell of a writer.

[Christina]

Just stumbled onto your blog through "my weeds are sorry".
Love the photos, commentary, and find so much honor in the caring of your father. Will be back.....

[Janet, The Queen of Seaford]

Am gettin up to check my Remarkable Tree book....did I know it was in there? Check out the tree I have on my current posting....very similar.

[anna maria]

Beautiful music for a beautiful tree. Thank you.

[Christopher C NC]

How cool is that. The video is kind of cheesy. The tree is the best part. Strange how that kind of music seeps into your bones and unknowingly becomes a part of you growing up in the south. You don't know it til you listen again and it feels like home.

[Catherine T]

I live in Earlysville about five minutes from this remarkable tree. Every time I drive by I think about getting out and saying hello. Your image is just beautiful. It would be great to know more about the church there too; they same to be of the same era. Maybe I'll see you there someday.