Walking. Under the Red Maple.

Posted on by Live & Learn

Cove Island Park Walk. At Daybreak. 394 consecutive days. Like in a Row.

A handful of days after the long Memorial Day weekend. Reader: Hold that thought.

4:36 a.m. Dark Sky app is calling for 100% cloud cover, 50% chance of rain. Ugh.

I’m out the door.

I arrive at the park. Cloud cover ~60%. No rain. Not a hint of rain. Take that Dark Sky A.I.

Two loops around the park and I’m heading back to the car.

I’m 500 feet from the parking lot and I notice the tree.

Was this beautiful little tree here before? No chance. I would have seen it, for sure. Almost 400 consecutive days in a row, and I missed it?

Look at the fresh soil build up around the base. Could a tree this large have been transplanted?

What kind of tree it this? Red Maple? Could you possibly be this clueless? A Canadian who doesn’t know his trees?

I glance at my watch. Time to get home.

I quickly snap a shot of the tree and keep walking. And note that I couldn’t even get the entire tree within the frame. Really!?!

No.

I stop.

This tree is pulling me back.

I walk back.

John Liberatore Jr.

He was 21 years old.

Photo: DK @ Daybreak. 5:26 am, June 3, 2021. 67° F. Cove Island Park, Stamford, CT.

45 thoughts on “Walking. Under the Red Maple.”

  5. Not forgotten, deeply rooted in our DNA – honor those who served. And on a separate note – a Canadian who doesn’t know a maple leaf 🍁????

      1. I know – and that’s my point…I was sure you’d know a maple tree from some other type of tree. But given the gorgeousness of your photos, you get a pass…😉

  10. Perhaps it is that after “394 consecutive days. Like in a Row.”, you are able to see not just the wide-view with its majestic, sweeping sunrises, and geese taking flight and waves crashing but the tiny delicate strands of grace that make up the ‘all’ of all you have witnessed in your 394 consecutive days. Like in a Row.
    Perhaps, in that delicate plague that tells a story of a life survived by a tree, is the beauty of all you have seen over your 394 consecutive days. Like in a Row journey — the beauty of all of life is not captured in the big picture. It is experienced one step at a time.
    Which… begs the question… if each day represents (and I’m making up a number here) an average of 6,000 steps, that’s 2,388,000 steps — you’ve come a long way baby! In more ways than one.

  11. What a beautiful tree and exactly what we should do to honour those who have passed instead of a headstone. Just on a side note…when you mow the lawn or do anything around the house do you say to your wife. ‘Mowed the lawn…. like 2,456 in a row???’ Ha 😛😂

  13. How moving that someone who is deeply moved by the beauty of this red maple [I think…] selected this specimen to honor a precious son of maybe a friend or relative. Brings tears…for love and remembrance. Interesting that I find this wonderful post 3 days later while a wonderful crew of men are removing 3 ash trees (stories high and in danger of causing havoc if not removed). Trees can certainly have a long life!

  14. Hahahaha … well, when taken by surprise, perhaps memory fizzles … man with the maple leaf motif … Immediately I noticed the too-new compost surrounding the tree, so eventually even gardeners(?) (Maybe!) get a pass for missing it, under the circumstances. xoxo

  15. What a beautiful memorial. We have roadside avenues of honour here. Many of the WW1 trees have been removed for safety reasons. I feel sad every time another one goes.

  16. Is John Liberatore’s tree still flourishing? (this was from more than 3 years ago) Thank you for “seeing” this tree and sharing the beauty and honoring…with all of us who appreciate.

      1. Lovely, but your local Liberatore memorial tree was for a man who died at 21–this daughter’s father died at 51, but we can appreciate that this family loved trees.

Leave a Reply to Live & LearnCancel reply