"Lucky tree"
Original watercolor 10 x 14
Well if you grew up in Kansas, specifically in Hutchinson, Kansas, you know this beautiful ancient cottonwood that stands right off of highway 96, halfway to Wichita.
Every time you pass her, you honk. If you don't, it's bad luck. I'm not sure how long this tradition has been carried on, but I know since the early 1970's, our family noted the beauty on our way to Wichita. It was easier then. The speed limit was 55 and sometimes you would find yourself following a tractor or a black buggy ( the tree is close to Yoder, an Amish community)
She is a stalwart, our old cottonwood. Withstanding tornadoes, ice storms, and incessant Kansas wind, heat and cold, she remains. And though the speed limit and the world has sped up, she reminds us of what is good in life. Those familiar landmarks that tell stories and whisper to us that we are close to home, even if it's just in our hearts and memories.