Lone Tree | Coulee City, WA | 2016
Along the Waterville Plateau’s eastern boundary is Banks Lake, where there stands a proud, young tree that I visit frequently. I believe it has a message for me, although deciphering its whispers and rustles hasn’t been easy. The tree seems most plainspoken in winter, when the lake is frozen and muffled. That’s when the tree communicates through stillness and silence — its most vigorous move the casting of a shadow. I think I’m starting to understand.