I wanted you to see this old Eastern Red Cedar tree. It stands near an old mostly abandoned cemetery in the Land Between the Lakes here in western Kentucky. When I first found it I realized it reminded me of the old legend, the one that says the souls of our ancestors rest within the tree. I could almost see those old souls in the gnarls of the tree trunk.
The Land Between the Lakes is the property between Kentucky Lake and Lake Barkley, government owned and obtained from the people who resided there when both lakes were built. Houses, towns, churches were all abandoned, some torn down, but most cemeteries were left as they were. This tree has seen it all, and it looks as if it carries the weight of all the burdens of all those displaced people.
I like its beauty and its dignity. It's an old Grandfather Tree to me.
