Chat with Deb—Tree Roots and Clay Pots

“I told the elders and I’m telling you, this clay pot thing is STUPID!”

Wandering around our local woods—okay, purposefully engaging in immersion in a natural setting without directional guidance, whatever—we see lots of things. Pretty rocks, flowers, places where somebody chainsawed fallen trees when they fell over the trail, places where nobody chainsawed fallen trees and hikers have had to establish bypasses… We pass several trees that have fallen over, presumably in storms. The roots show age and degrees of decay, so some of them toppled years ago.

Old, decaying toppled tree… with clay that won’t wash away. (all photos by author)

ME: Okay, so some of these trees, they must have fallen over years ago, right? We’ve had storms during and since, heavy rains, freeze/thaw cycles, and yet there’s still clay on the roots. (taps on the clay with my hiking stick — might as well be tapping on rock) Clay that’s baked on the roots. So somebody must have said to themselves at some point—

DEB: Hey, there’s a lot of this stuff, we can make our own rocks!

ME: Only in shapes! So, like, if we make a shape like hands holding water, we could make something that could hold water! Only bigger!

DEB: But?

ME: But! Somebody asks, what’s wrong with water skins? Haven’t we always used water skins? They’re…