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EMPS #53: Trees

Posted by in Charleston, Memes, Photo Challenge, Photography


It has been far too long since I took part in one of the Monday Photo Shoot challenges started by John Scalzi back when he was paid to blog for AOL.  (That’s back when AOL actually had blogs.)  When Scalzi’s contract was up, the Monday Photo Shoot needed a new home, and it wound up in the very capable hands of my pal Carly and is now the Ellipsis Monday Photo Shoot.

Each Monday, appropriately enough, she posts a topic for a new photo challenge.  You then have until 9:00pm on Sunday night to post your take on that theme, leave a link at her blog, and be part of the fun.

This week’s topic is Trees.

Here in South Carolina, the state tree is the Palmetto, a tree I’ve always liked because of its distinctive shape.  But if Charleston had its own tree, the Palmetto might get a run for its money from another popular tree that is also everywhere you look:  the Oak.

There’s a lot of history in Charleston, and a good bit of that history comes in the form of giant oak trees that have survived hurricanes and wars alike.  This one is at Magnolia Plantation and is immense, with branches that are multiple feet in diameter now.  Occasionally, you’ll see a tree like this that actually has steel cables helping support the branches.

Like most other oaks around Charleston, it has a healthy layer of Spanish Moss, which has become a part of southern folklore.

As the story goes, a would-be plantation owner took his Spanish bride to see a site for their soon-to-be-home.  Indians who were unhappy at the prospect of sharing the land cut off the young maiden’s hair and tossed it into an oak tree.  Over the next few weeks, the hair not only began to wither and turn gray, it began spreading from tree to tree.

So that’s my long-overdue playing of the Ellipsis Monday Photo Shoot.  Go here to play along.