American Elm Survivor Tree

We drove up to Oklahoma City on April 19th and learned after we arrived that the date marked the 22nd anniversary of the terrorist bombing there. That afternoon we walked the grounds of the Oklahoma City National Memorial and saw the decorations that had been placed on all the chairs in the Field of Empty Chairs. The next day we visited the indoor museum, and after emerging I photographed an American elm, Ulmus americana, that has come to be known as the Survivor Tree. Heavily damaged, the elm managed to stay alive; it even bloomed the next year and has done so every year since then. You can hear/read more in an NPR interview.

© 2017 Steven Schwartzman

Bent but still flourishing

Something had crimped the stalk of this four-nerve daisy but it kept growing, gradually curving back upward and even managing to produce the flower head you see here. The only thing different about it from a usual flower head of Tetraneuris linearifolia was that it was a bit flattened instead of circular. I found this testament to survival in the greenbelt north of Old Lampasas Trail on March 15th.

If you’re interested in the craft of photography, you’ll find that points 1, 2, 4 and 18 in About My Techniques apply to this image.

© 2016 Steven Schwartzman