Staying Power

On the shore of Lover’s Key State Park, this tree refuses to go away. Years ago it died and fell over on the beach, exposing its root system to the wind, the rain, the sea and the hot sun, melting into sunset every day, waiting in darkness through the cool nights. The people who wander past hang a shell on its frame and return to find it again, perhaps adding another shell. Dozens of shells, carefully placed, tell a silent tale of all the people who came and cared.

Sunset lights the remains of this shell adorned tree on Lover’s Key State Park in January 2019.

This was not the first time I visited this tree and wondered about its story. Here is my photo from early 2018 also at sunset, just one year before. Comparing the two, you can appreciate the erosion that has gradually diminished the remains.

Since early 2018, erosion has mainly affected the trunk of the Lover’s Key shell tree.