Landmarks

Way back in 2007, I started commuting pretty regularly between San Francisco and Sacramento.  I hated the house I was living in, lived with the biggest bitch in the world.  So I would escape to Sacramento, where I had my own space in a huge house with a room mate I like.  I would leave SF right after work, hitting the road at 2:15 and just narrowly beating the afternoon traffic out of the Bay Area.  72 hours later, I'd make the trip back, heading straight down 580 to San Mateo, usually in time to eat another late lunch and report for work.

Being on the road for so long, you sorta fall into a trance.  You have basic motor function to respond to traffic, but your head sorta goes off line.  Along the way, my brain would register certain land marks; bridges, hills, names of cities.

This tree was one of those landmarks.  It sits right next to the rail road tracks just east of Davis, a lone tree getting whipped by passing trains and high winds.  There are no other trees within a reasonable distance, giving it a lonely sort of feel.  It's posture reminds me a little of the curve in the human spine; its position in relation to the clouds gives me the feeling that is stands in defiance of wind and rain.

Over the years its lost quite a bit of leaves and seems less substantial than the first time I saw it.  I think that it may be losing its battle against the elements, and pretty soon, there will only be the bare bones left.  Not long after that, it will fall to dust, become mulch to feed some new tree that will spring up in its place to fight its own battle against the wind.