Behind Those Trees

Behind Those Trees     

I have chosen Bryn Mawr’s rugby pitch/football field, and the walk to and from, as my scape. Located behind the graduate school and hidden behind towering trees, a lot of people don’t know where the pitch is unless they have a reason to be there. The pitch doesn’t appear on the campus map and you will not find signs directing you to the location. To get there, it’s about a 5 minute walk through a neighborhood that is always so eerily quiet.

I began my walk to the pitch when the snowfall and wind were picking up. As usual, the neighborhood was calm and quiet, maybe even offering an air of vacancy… As I neared the pitch, I heard the trickling water of the creek that passes between the grad school parking lot and the wall of trees that encircles the field. The field itself was covered in snow and hardly treaded on.  It was interesting to be in that place for no other reason than to just be.

The image here is a photo I took just after passing through the threshold of bare trees. I think what I’m trying to foreground is the hidden nature of this place at Bryn Mawr. Is it strange to say that the encircling trees have more spirit and angst and resilience than a lot of others on campus? I like to see them change throughout the seasons. In the late summer, walnuts fall from the branches onto the field and have been known to twist ankles if stepped on. In early autumn, tiny leaves begin to fall from treetops, and in the breeze they flutter like confetti. Now, in the winter, they are stoic, asleep-looking. Although they are bare, I never think to look beyond their branches… I always forget there are houses right behind those trees.