Just a Tree by the Path

Just different aspects of a venerable old beech tree that I often walk past. The trunk is decorated by different combinations of lichen and moss depending on exposure to the wind and rain on that particular side. The roots show on the surface like giant gnarled fingers breaking through the earth. The bark is scarred with textures of unknown origin. And the whole reaches up to a vast canopy of dense leaves that change colour through the season and according to the light they reflect or transmit. I have enjoyed their technicolour show in spring and summer. It will not be long before they are stripped from the branches as autumn progresses and a long cold winter is forecast to come.