I love this tree. In the summer and fall I bike by it three or so times a week and every time I go by I whisper, “good morning tree.” It is in a field off Glendale Road in Southampton and somehow it just seems like it is watching over the Valley. After I photographed it today I was walking back to my car and saw a car pull up to mine. “Are you mad at me for parking there?” I asked. “Just wondering what you’re doing,” the man said. I explained how I love this tree and he smiled explaining he owned the land and told me his daughter had gotten married underneath it. What a nice image I thought and drove away hoping to come back in a different season and take its picture again.
— Text and photo by Carol Lollis