§1: Tree to Stone to Tree to Stone
“I must grow.”
“I can’t move. Sorry.”
“No problem.”

§2: Me to Knee and Up Again
Kneeling on one knee to capture the image for §1 was no problem for me, but my old legs stiffened in the time it took to get a few photos of the tree’s workaround for the stone. To get up again, I depended on my own workaround.
After a few scares with stiffness from kneeling and balance on slopes earlier this year, I had bought a monopod and then replaced the monopod’s wrist lanyard with a clip that was intended for attaching a key ring to a belt loop.

Having taken the monopod on the walk leading to §1, I extended two of its four sections and used it to get up w/o drama. When collapsed and clipped to a belt loop, the monopod leaves my hands free for wiping sweat or taking photos. Like a good assistant, it’s there when I need it and unobtrusive when I don’t. Remembering to take it when I go for a walk is the hard part.
Stone ~ Pic and a Word Challenge #387
– above post (on phone) or beside it (on desktop). –
It’s really quite spectacular (and inspiring, in its own metaphorical way) what trees will grow around, isn’t it?
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Yes, I admire trees.
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There is a plane tree in the grounds of The King’s Inns in Dublin which is known as The Hungry Tree as it has grown around/onto a garden seat. A Google search will bring you to lots of photographs but here is a link to a Wikipedia article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hungry_Tree I’m with you on the struggles of getting up again after taking a photograph. Life is painful at the moment with hip-replacement surgery scheduled for next month.
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Thanks for the link. Hope the surgery goes well and relieves the pain.
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It is true that getting up is a lot harder than getting down. I have two walking poles which I need on rough ground but I very much like your idea of a monopod with a belt clip. Good thinking.
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They say necessity is the mother of invention. In these older years, I think pain is often the mother of necessity.
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