Bearfort Ridge is actually a concentric series of ridges. The rock is purple puddingstone, which is a hard sandstone with white quartz inclusions. The soil is generally poor, derived from the sandstone. Up on the ridges, there is little soil. The trees that grow tall between the ridges, here are stunted and dwarfed. The two most common trees are scrub oak and pitch pine.

Bonsai is a Japanese art form. Trees are dwarfed and trained to imitate the stunted trees found in nature. It is a ‘back-formation’, but we who hike the ridge call the stunted pines up on the ridge “Our Bonsais”. Our bonsais are, of course, too tall to be real bonsais. They range in height from three feet to fifteen feet. There is a beauty in the dwarf trees. I understand the Japanese appreciation of bonsai.

I don’t usually have a Christmas Tree in my house; mostly because no one ever comes to my house for Christmas. So I have adopted one of the dwarf pitch pines up on Bearfort Ridge as ‘My Christmas Tree’. It’s about eight feet tall, and has a gentle ‘umbrella’ sweep of the branches. It grows in very little soil, where the trail climbs thirty feet up the ridge. I don’t know how old this tree is, but I’d hazard a guess at about forty years. It does bear cones, so it is a mature tree. Some people think it’s a rather ugly tree; others suggest that I should put a giant red bow on it. Perhaps this year I shall. Every time I hike past it, I admire its beauty. It is ‘My Christmas Tree.’

 

Writers' Corner: Musings :: E-mail

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