Day 221 - Can't see the forest...

One of the lasting images for me of our visit to the island of Grand Manan is the trees. Grand Manan is covered in trees and just about every one of them has been affected, in one way or another, by the weather and the sea.

In this first photograph, a massively tall pine tree reaches into the bright blue sky, as healthy and happy as can be. The only challenge it seems to face is the wind and bitter cold from the Bay of Fundy below it. The steady blast from the water has been so profound that no branches have managed to survive on the sea-side part of the tree, except near the very top. It's really quite amazing to behold.

Even more amazing is the fact that this tree was not unique: Grand Manan has entire stands of trees on the cliffs overlooking the Bay of Fundy that share this wind-created characteristic. It's really quite something to look up at a wall of these tall, lovely trees, all with one bare side.

The growth of the tree in this second shot has also been affected by the wind and snow but quite differently. In this case, the tree has grown up with a natural bow in its spine.

Looking at it on a calm, sunny day like this one, you would still think it's being bent low by a strong wind. It must have taken years of howling gales to get a tree to grow like this, don't you think? Makes me shudder to think of Grand Manan's 2,500 full-time inhabitants, struggling through winters with that kind of wind!