Refuge Trees
A guest blog by Sandra Cowan
Refuge Trees is a virtual exhibit drawn from the photographs of trees that I’ve take over the past decade. This photo project started with two images in my mind’s eye: a homeless person sleeping under a cottonwood tree in the park across the street from my apartment, and the Buddha sitting under the bodhi tree until he attained enlightenment. I started thinking of all the ways that a tree is a refuge to so many beings – human, bird, insect and animal. How they create oxygen and shade, microclimates and ecosystems. How important they are to our physical and spiritual health. The trees take care of us, even though we don’t always take good care of them.
The photos are taken from the perspective of one sheltering under the tree, looking up in gratitude. The trees are in many different places in Canada, the USA, Mexico, and Spain. Most of them are much older and wiser than I am. They are all beautiful. For me, they are also haunted by summer days spent lying under a tree, thinking and sky-gazing.
I invite you to scroll through the photos as a contemplation, and then find a tree in your own vicinity to take refuge under for a while.