Canopy

Canopy | East Wenatchee, WA | December 2019

Here we are in the dead of winter — wet, chilled, gloomy — yet my spirits lift when I stroll under a “capillary canopy.” It’s a leafless, trunk-to-twig spread that startles in its resemblance to the human circulatory system. Specifically, heart arteries silhouetted against an overcast sky, ductwork branching ever smaller to distribute the vital elements of life. Like a city water system or a FedEx delivery map. I walk knowing that my own circulating self is likely part of a similar, complex network — street to sidewalk to muddy track — for the purpose of delivering … what? Weed seeds stuck to my pants cuff? Flu germs to the next passerby? Or maybe just a bright hello on this dreary day?

[In photo: Zoom in for the full capillary effect.]