Bryce Mother — Metal

After a night of deep snowfall I snowshoed into a remote stretch of Bryce Canyon where the only tracks were mine. The scene stopped me — one ancient ponderosa standing tall, her red bark glowing warm against the white, with a clutch of young evergreens huddled beneath her branches like children gathered close. The fresh snow softened everything, muting the forest into silence. Above, a stark cobalt sky pressed down, and the only color that broke through was that warm bark and the subtle green peeking from under each snow-laden bough. She looked like she had been watching over this small flock for centuries.