Fagus sylvatica

It's been one of the wettest springs in recent memory. I don't mind the rain. It seems to slow everything down, which is nice. After a week of rain all is drenched in saturated colors, bringing everything intensely to life. I came upon this magnificent beech tree this morning and had to stop to admire it for a long time. It had recently lost a limb, but that hardly seems to diminish its powerful presence. It's no wonder that ancient cultures as different as the Egyptians, the Druids, and the Chinese all had a reverence for trees. I love the way this beech tree looks so primordial, its shallow roots exposed by the soil erosion on the steep slope on which it stands. It looks like a drawing of a tree in a fairy tale book.