sierraclub.org - sierra magazine - march/april 2013 - year-life-lonely-oak - that tree: a year in the life of a lonely oak
Photos by Mark Hirsch | Text by Della Watson
"Farmers don't like foxtail," Hirsch says. "But it made for a beautiful photo." While Tim Clare, the farmer who owns the field on which the oak tree resides, might not be fond of foxtail pictured here, he is a fan of the tree. Clare has pledged to never cut down the lone oak. Hirsch relays a story that illustrates the tree's precarious existence and the farmer's wise judgment: "He had a bulldozer come out to fix his waterways. [The bulldozer operator said,] 'While I'm out here, you want me to push over that tree too?' and Tim replied, 'That tree has been here for almost 200 years. I'm not the guy that is going to push it over.'"