Round Robin: Beneath These Roots

I half-intended to do something semi-clever and unexpected for the return of the Round Robin Photo Challenges, finding some surprising interpretation of the topic "Roots," as suggested by Vicki of the blog Maraca. Now the time has come to post, and I can't bear to do that. The fact is, I took quite a few pictures last year of the roots of olive trees in Gene C. Reid Park. It would be a shame not to finally present some of the shots I haven't previously posted.




The thing about old olive trees is, pretty much the whole tree looks like tree roots. It's a motif that's carried up the trunk, a mass of twisted limbs joined together. Tonight I came across a nice shot of the olive grove that illustrates this. (You can see it here.) But let's concentrate on the actual roots, shall we?



The other cool thing about this particular stand of olive trees, next to the rose garden in Reid Park, is that Cayenne and Pepper always seem inordinately interested in their roots.




I have lots of pictures, in fact, of the dogs sniffing and nosing and climbing around at the base and roots of these trees. But why? What's so compelling about tree roots for a dog like Cayenne or (especially) Pepper?



I had my suspicions, especially given the number of small holes in the ground I've turned up in various parts of this park, including some right at the roots of the trees that interest Pepper the most. But until this summer I didn't know for sure what the dogs were looking for. I tend to take the dogs to the park in the late afternoon, if at all; lately our attendance has fallen off to almost nothing. At that time of day, whatever critters the dogs are after seem conspicuously absent, aside from certain birds.



But one morning this summer I decided to beat the heat with a morning visit. That's when the dogs and I finally saw what had burrowed all those holes near the roots of olive trees. We never got very close, but I did manage a few shots.

Now let's go see what roots the other Robins have decided to show us:

Linking List



Vicki - Posted!
Maraca
http://mymaracas.blogspot.com/


Karen - Posted!
Outpost Mâvarin
http://outmavarin.blogspot.com


Linda - Posted!
Mommy's Treasures
http://mommystreasures.blogspot.com 


Carly - Posted!
Ellipsis
http://ellipsissuddenlycarly.blogspot.com


Jama - Posted!
Sweet Memories
http://mummyjam.blogspot.com


Monica
Shutterly Happy =)
http://monica-frameofmind.blogspot.com/


Gemma
Little Tiny Pieces
http://www.littletinypieces.co.uk


Suzanne R - Posted!
SuzyQ421's Photo Blog
http://suzyq421sphotoblog.blogspot.com


Sherrie - Posted!
Sherrie's Stuff
http://sherrie-plummer.blogspot.com/


Julie - Posted!
Julie's Web Journal
http://www.barrettmanor.com/julie/journal.aspx


Gattina - Posted!
Keyhole Pictures
http://gattina-keyholepictures.blogspot.com/


Peggy - Posted!
Holmespun Fun Memes and Themes
http://holmespunfunmemesandthemes.blogspot.com

Karen