Month: June 2019

The amazing, incredible European Giant Sequoias – Bodensee

kenritley

Giant Sequoia trees, which also have the amazing Latin name Sequoiadendron giganteum, are amazing amazing things. They can grow to hundreds of feet tall, weigh many thousands of tons, and live for many thousands of years. And what’s more amazing, there are quite a number of them that have been born and raised in Europe!

Here’s a Giant Sequoia that I spotted in Germany in a park next to Lake Constance, also known as the Bodensee.

But as this sign describes, planted in 1800’s it is still just a baby.

Sadly, I am a big believer that mankind will be unable to stop climate change, so I have no hope that this fellow will live to reach anywhere near its limits. Even the natural-born Giant Sequoias of Northern California are classified as an endangered species and are under massive threat due to the increased temperatures and reduced levels of rain and moisture in the air.

Gothic Sail Spray

kenritley

I waited quietly and patiently in the hot South German sun for that perfect opportunity, when three separate streams of fate briefly came together for an instance and then went again on their separate journey through life. But for just an instant in time, the Gothic Towers and the sailboat and the water spray were merged together as one:

FAKE: Water Tower

kenritley

I was pretty impressed with this impression of an antique water tower – used for filling steam trains – and it reminded of some of the work of M.C. Escher, who was known for hanging objects in empty space.

Just for the record: the photos I post are never in any way retouched or enhanced or changed – except for cropping.

But in this series of blog posts entitled FAKE I publish some rather interesting images I have enhanced in some way.