Rootless Drifter by auntietk

Photography • Sea/Undersea • posted on Jan 24, 2011

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Description

There tends to be quite a bit of driftwood on the beaches in this area. What you see today might not be there after the next storm, or the next high tide. We were down at Mukilteo beach one day a couple weeks ago and the Sound was crowded with deadheads! (That means there was a lot of driftwood floating around in the water ... not that there were a bunch of Jerry Garcia fans out swimming.) The tide must have been pretty high earlier in the day, and the water would have picked up some of the wood on the beach and floated it out. Eventually that wood will wash up on another beach. Sometimes there are logs on a beach that appear to have fallen off a ship, or broken loose from a log boom. They're fairly straight, and look like they've been cut at both ends. This log still has the first foot or two of its root system, which makes it more likely that the tree was growing close to the water and was toppled by erosion. It's interesting that the root ends seem to have been trimmed off quite evenly somehow. Anybody have any guesses or stories about how that might have happened? There's no right answer ... I certainly don't know!

Comments (30)

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mbz2662

1:17AM | Mon, 24 January 2011

Cool shot :) I think I'd like your beaches!

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lyron

1:37AM | Mon, 24 January 2011

Beautiful capture!!!

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Chipka

1:41AM | Mon, 24 January 2011

I love a beach with driftwood on it, and this is super. I love the shapes and the overall sense of mood...hmmm. I suspect that this is an erosion-felled tree, and I thing the strangely "neat" breakage of the roots says something about the density of the wood and the way the tree interacted with water when it fell in...if there were rocky areas, I think the roots might have been worn down to a relatively uniform level as the tree itself drifted, rolled, and scraped rocks and such. Maybe not, but that's my observation, which may be way, way, way off the mark. I mean, it could be the work of little mathematician isopods who thought that this driftwood would look simply marvelous if it had root-breakage adhering to their very specific measurements of beauty. Or not. At any rate, I love this shot.

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helanker

2:58AM | Mon, 24 January 2011

OHHH I wish I could go and get some of these stumps with a bit of root on. They often look like creatures. Love it. We dont have them here. Love this shot.

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durleybeachbum

3:16AM | Mon, 24 January 2011

Gorgoeus object, I should like it in my garden! I like the way you composed this so skilfully!

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bazza

3:17AM | Mon, 24 January 2011

Fabulous image love driftwood they are so interesting in shape.. very well done!!

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jayfar

3:20AM | Mon, 24 January 2011

This is beautiful Tara and just like Andrea my wife would love to have this in our garden.

whaleman

4:51AM | Mon, 24 January 2011

My guess is that the tree was frozen in ice somewhere or was cut by ice breaking up. I have seen that before.

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emmecielle

5:29AM | Mon, 24 January 2011

Wonderful capture! :)

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PHELINAS

7:43AM | Mon, 24 January 2011

Excellent capture Tara!

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Faemike55

8:18AM | Mon, 24 January 2011

Great capture, Tara

MrsLubner

8:56AM | Mon, 24 January 2011

Outstanding composition! Perfectly done.

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awjay

9:28AM | Mon, 24 January 2011

i wouldnt like to hit that in the water

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makron

9:45AM | Mon, 24 January 2011

Excellent capture...

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beachzz

10:24AM | Mon, 24 January 2011

I've seen lots of trees just like this on the beach near my home, and I never thought about the fact that they, too, have those shorn roots. No clue, but this is a great shot!!

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barbdennist

1:00PM | Mon, 24 January 2011

Please don't have me committed but I love to look at driftwood and see what I can see in it. In this one I see a jack rabbit with extra long ears, a possum sticking his nose out to sniff the sea air, and I don't know why but I also see a pig. I think I'll go have a cup of coffee now and clear out my brain cells.

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moochagoo

2:53PM | Mon, 24 January 2011

Love that natural and whashed sculpture !

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magritte

4:45PM | Mon, 24 January 2011

The photographers mind ay.....a "normal" person wouldnt look twice at this old lump of wood....arent cameras great?.Mag :)

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MrsRatbag

6:22PM | Mon, 24 January 2011

I love our ever-changing driftwood sculptures; it's interesting that although it seems to move around all the time I've never actually seen it in the water, only on the beaches. Yet it must "swim" somehow, right? I think the roots might have gotten broken off by rolling on the rocky beach as it gets washed ashore. Or fish cut it off for firewood... :)

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npauling

6:34PM | Mon, 24 January 2011

A very impressive capture and I agree with MrsRatbag I reckon the fish wanted a fire.

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goodoleboy

6:55PM | Mon, 24 January 2011

Not exactly an apt analogy, but just drifting along with the tumbling tumbleweed. Stellar DOF, clarity and detail, with stark light and shadow effects, in this shot.

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bmac62

12:05AM | Tue, 25 January 2011

I like it a bunch. Need I say more:)

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RodS

12:46PM | Tue, 25 January 2011

Wonderful driftwood photo, Tara! I'm not sure how the ends get trimmed so neatly, I suppose maybe from banging on rocks or other driftwood pieces... Jerry Garcia fans....LOL!

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