Our Weekend Project

It's a gorgeous day, which is good, because we have some major work to do outside.  A big storm moved through some time ago, taking several trees down, and today is the day we are finally going to start cleaning up one of the larger ones.  This particular tree was an oak measuring almost 100 feet tall.  It will supply plenty of firewood for our wood stove this winter!

I am most interested in the root system of this tree because it provides a great illustration of why I chose the name Taproot for my studio.  As large and heavy as oaks like this are, they do not have taproot systems.  Their roots tend to spread laterally, generally staying within a few feet of the ground surface.  They have no deep reaching roots to anchor them firmly to the earth.

As you can see, when the storm and strong winds came, this huge oak fell right over, exposing the weak root system, and killing the tree.

This is the reason I work under the name Taproot...It reminds me that I must reach deep to grow strong.  Every day I must be "furtile ground"...growing stronger by walking in faith, hope and love.