A Labor of Love : Grand Lord Yew

I was called unexpectedly on Thursday evening with an invitation to go visit my youngest son on the Labor of Love Farm. He was looking for advice on a favorite subject…gardening. He has returned to the farm after years of working around the province…making big money…with little to no goal. It’s my theory that the farm has called him back, and to hear him tell his story, having found a young woman to share the “labor of love”.

Rory’s father owns the property, though he finally put it on the market when he moved away two years ago to pursue dreams of mining and trapping in the North. Over a twenty year period Steve turned the property from a rough chunk of rocky rainforest into an acreage covered with now well established fruit and nut trees and lush green meadows. When Rory and Kat (his girlfriend) returned for a visit and saw the disrepair the orchards, which also happened to be in full spring bloom, were in, it was the call of a broken heart they could repair with some tender loving care.

I’ve lived, worked and visited the property over all these years and know its history. There is a yew tree among a tangle of trees that has sat on a 2000’ bluff overlooking Agamemnon Strait. I realized on the drive down I was almost as excited to see the tree as I was to see Rory and Kat. That evening after a good visit over dinner I grabbed the camera to do a picture tour of the property, heading first toward the Yew tree on the edge of the property.



This picture shows you the height and width of this massive 800 year old tree. Its location has been registered by the “science” types and all yew trees are protected by law. It is surrounded by taller maple trees that protect it from the worst blows from the ocean, but also compete with it for head room. Over the years of visiting I have never taken a picture of this tree. With the first click of the shutter I knew/felt there was a presence, one I couldn’t identify visually, but felt strongly. On impulse, I zoomed the camera in on the area of the tree I felt was speaking loudest and took one picture.

When I download the camera last night after returning home it was the pictures of the Yew tree I was thinking about. As you can see…the Grand Lord Yew allowed me to capture a clear image of him….as I felt he would.



I owe a note of gratitude to Joan Solomon and her book of photographs of Spirits in the Garden for firming up my conviction about the faces, figures and symbols in rocks, trees, clouds and such I have witnessed over the years. It was Joan’s book that finally pushed me to admit to and share Lady Willow from our garden, and now Grand Lord Yew. It is an honor and privilege beyond compare to be able to serve life in this way.

“The natural world is a spiritual house. We walk there through forests of physical things that are also spiritual things: they watch us with affectionate looks." Charles Baudelaire.