Look but don't Touch...

   I discovered this tree behind the retreat house in Bethany Springs, Kentucky while I was there.  It seemed to be a normal enough tree but wrapped in these lethal looking spikes!  No doubt it was a natural protection of some sort.  I pity the poor squirrel that tries to climb this tree!

    Don't you know some people like this tree?  They wrap themselves up in all sorts of defenses that say to all those they encounter..."Look but don't touch!"  These people shrink from human connection.  It is a position of fear and insecurity I think.

   I've often toyed with the idea of creating a photographic series based on human personality characteristics.  This photograph would definitely fit the bill!  I think I knew an English teacher in high school that could be this tree!  I used to think her a perfectly horrible person...so "prickly" and remote.  There's a woman now that I know that is also a perfect match for this tree.   I think they both must have been incredibly lonely.  I wish I had been kinder towards them.  All this from a photograph of a tree.  This is why I love contemplative photography so much!  It has the ability to draw amazing things out of the attic of your mind...