One Tree Hill

It draws our eyes from a distance. The hill is not spectacular, the lone tree nothing special, pretty in summer, not a maple, not a particularly remarkable Oak, yet all are drawn to it. Not far from the hill woodland stretches for acres, yet these woods receive scant attention, while that single tree on a hill is the subject of much photography, folks feel impelled to tramp up that slope just be seen by that special feature. There is a thing worth understanding in this very human need to admire, even venerate the odd and atypical, as if the minds imperative is to focus on the one in the many, selectively seeking out, the stand-out, whether it be exceptional or not. Perhaps the special, the singular, the notable is a need we all have to believe in our own ‘one tree’ uniqueness.