Page 68 - NyghtVision Magazine Volume 4 #2

Just north of downtown, out Broad Street and go.
just past the city limit sign, I found Crowell’s Bar- Like trees, the church steeples I saw also provid-
ber Shop in an African-American residential area. ed that vertical dimension and demarked the cen-
If you listen closely, you can hear men swapping ter of a community where people shared common
stories on that front porch! (8) beliefs in some higher power. These rural church-
On a whim, I kept driving out Broad Street to see es do not have the grandiose spires we see in the
what might lie outside town. In a few miles, I dis- big city churches. Congregations built them with-
covered the Martin County Airport. Adjacent to out the aid of giant cranes. But, they are no less
the airport was a large abandoned home where a symbolic of our need to sense that there is some
gorgeous tree stood sentinel in the bright January power out there from whom we seek strength and
light. The tree’s branches are extended, like arms, guidance. (14-15)
in a vain attempt to hold off decay or the destruc- The trees and steeples remind us of our need
tion of the home. Note that someone has removed for community, for a center. We want roots. Yet,
one chimney, perhaps to get the bricks. (9) many of these rural families have seen their chil-
As I took this picture, I paused to reflect on dren move away in search of “better” lives. The
similar pictures I had taken earlier in the trip. At children miss the sense of community. Even those
the time, I had been focusing on the old houses. of us who grew up in larger cities move to other
But here, I realized that the common denomina- cities and miss our neighborhoods and families.
tor in these pictures was the trees. Every house Perhaps this is why Facebook and other social
had at least one large tree nearby. Obviously, one media have become so popular. We seek commu-
purpose for the trees was shade from the often nity, “rootedness,” and these sites can supply dig-
scorching southern summer sun. However, I also ital roots that bind us to others. They provide the
realized that these trees provided the only vertical horizontal dimension in the modern city’s vertical
dimension in an otherwise horizontal world. In world. From the inane, what I had for breakfast
those flat fields, often extending as far as the eye this morning, to the sublime, the iPhone shot of a
could see, the trees marked the home place and new-born baby beamed to Brazil, the Web helps
served as a beacon, much like a lighthouse, ori- us form and maintain our communities. Commu-
enting a farmer in the middle of a large cornfield nities no longer depend on physical place.
and showing the direction home. (Lead photo and The small towns and communities down east
11-13) are struggling to survive. Some will because of the
The trees also provided a sense of place. They power of family and place. Others will fade away.
had roots. In many places, the trees were older As we drive through, we should remember what
than the houses. Despite losing limbs to storms, they have meant and still mean and how their his-
they were still there. History passed below their tory has shaped all of us. Our photos are one way
branches as they watched armies, roads, railroads, of preserving these memories and this heritage.
homes, stores, and struggling families come and

�


68 | Down East 