To Moss A Tree.

The tree that we ran to in the middle of that farmer’s field was really out of place. I stood there in the grass and look around in all directions. I could see a couple old farms with silos and barns, a few old yellow tractors, and in the far east I could see lines and lines of trees. The wind rumbled some more in my ears. Jordan, Rebecca and I took some more photographs with a digital camera and then walked back to the car satisfied with visiting the tree.

Our adventure didn’t stop there however because as we got back in the car we decided to journey further down Elgin Mills Road to see what else we could find. To our surprise we found huge mansions one by one on both sides of the road. They were probably among the biggest houses I’ve seen in Ontario. Driving slow to admire the houses probably was frustrating the drivers behind us who are use to the scenery and think nothing special about it. After seeing huge stone gate pillars though, we decided to turn around and park on the side of the road for closer investigation and to take some photos.

Half of Jordan’s car was leaning into the ditch beside us on the right when he parked. There was no way to avoid it, so we had to carefully exit the car because of gravity, though it certainly would be funny if either Rebecca or I fell out.

They approached the gate with the digital camera and took some photographs. My eye caught something different though. Along the property line was a brown stained fence. Beyond it was a yard with seemingly well groomed grass and alignment of trees. However the perfect cut grass was covered with hundreds and hundreds of dried out fallen autumn leaves. A tree that stood just before the fence was covered with a yellow moss. I took my out my Polaroid camera and took a photograph. I wanted to focus on the beautiful moss along the trunk of the tree.

I put the camera back inside the car and walked up to look at the stone gates that were built with perfection. Jordan started to venture down further the driveway despite the warnings of dogs on guard and no trespassing. I remember doing lawn care for the rich in a secluded part of Toronto. The backyard had a sign of a dog claiming that the dog can run faster than me and will bite. We ran the doorbell to make sure the dog wasn’t in the backyard but the owner of the house was not home. “Go check to see if the dog is in the backyard.” My technician told me. “But, what if it is in the back yard?” I asked. “Run.” He said. If it was a trick to scare me it worked, but the anxiety was so envigourating that I had to do it. I opened the gate and crept slowly in the backyard ever cautious. I tried calling out to the dog while the gate was fully open. Silence. Even though I confirmed the dog wasn’t there I still quickly fertilized the lawn and got out of there fast. Sort of disappointed I didn’t have to run for my life.

Jordan was satisfied with his photos and we moved on. We stopped at a couple more houses to take some photographs, and then headed home.