Dauphin Island, Alabama

This image is a combination of a crazy, freakish happening and a trick perspective (though I didn’t intend it to be one.)

See where the roots spread out, making kind of a flat “seat” on the right? That’s close enough to the ground that a tall person could sit there. I’m just over 5 feet, one inch, so I couldn’t quite reach it. It’s a big thing, but it doesn’t extend much higher than six or seven feet. A low angle and wide lens distorted that.

Now as to what it is, I don’t exactly know either. Obviously, it’s some kind of tree that is becoming like petrified driftwood. (Can it be driftwood if it doesn’t drift? I don’t know.)

But it baffles me, too. The tree is snapped off at the top and was most likely damaged during Hurricane Katrina. But the only thing I can guess is that the top roots are sucker roots and the actual REAL roots lie much further below the ground. I’m assuming that storms have washed away the sand the suckers used to lie atop.

There are some other trees like this on the beach, too. Next time I am there, I’m going to try to get someone to explain it to me.

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About the image

A tree’s roots are exposed due to erosion on Dauphin Island, Alabama. (Photo by Carmen K. Sisson/Cloudybright)

Posted on December 24, 2012 by Carmen K. Sisson tagged Alabama, black and white, Dauphin Island, erosion, Gulf Coast, toned, trees, water, writing