The Old Elm in Spring

[JAS_Photo]

The Old Elm in Spring by Jackie Sheen, on Flickr

When the Stampede board bought up all the surrounding land for expansion, a gardener convinced them to save this heritage tree. Although he had never seen this tree, it represents for me my father, who had lived a hard life on the prairie, joined the army in 1939 when he was just 17, returned to work on the road gang building highways in Alberta and B.C. He was an honest man, a man of his word. So I go and visit it periodically and photograph it. It is gnarled, and it's trunk is hollowed out and yet it still endures. I hope it still will last many, many more years.

[asnow]

I like the juxtaposition of the old elm and the new(er) architecture of the Saddledome.