Thinking About Bark

Every morning I take a walk around San Jose where I'm temporarily living until I head to San Francisco and every morning it seems, I spot a plant or tree I've never seen before. When it comes to trees I often notice the bark first, which is more textured, layered, and complex than any trees I've lived around before. I started collecting pictures of bark on my first walk and have been adding to the collection over the past couple of weeks. My observations got me thinking about what bark is, what its purpose is, and what it can symbolize. Bark serves as a form of protection from other living things, from weather, and all sorts of outside forces. It helps get nutrients to the rest of the tree, keeps moisture in, and out, and insulates from cold and heat. It's also constantly renewing itself. I see it, first and foremost, as a protection mechanism, and have been contemplating all the ways we humans protect ourselves from physical, mental, and emotional dangers, all the mechanisms we use, or try to use. I'm also thinking about renewal... 

Thanks for reading.