Just a Tree

Inspiration Avenue's challenge this week is "peace". What does peace mean to me? Of course I am dreaming of world peace, and I suspect that this dream will never come true. However, I will never loose hope on that one - never. Call me naive if you like.

But there is more to the word "peace". My inner peace. Being at peace with myself (which I am often not, but compared to when I was younger this feeling at peace has certainly improved). There are places of peace for me, or to be more accurate, places that give me peace. Where I feel at peace, my worries are forgotten for a period of time, and all I feel is utter peace.

This linden tree and its surroundings was one of those places for me when I still lived in Germany. It was about an hour's drive from my home, and I often went there on weekends. It was up in the hills of the Schwaebische Alb where more often than not a chilly wind was blowing and especially during the winter it was very cold. That was my favorite time to visit the linden, when the area was almost deserted, only a very few people took a walk there then. Up on that hill it was rather flat, there was another little hill rising with a small chapel on top.

I could walk here for hours, I would always return to the linden. In summer I would lie beneath or close to it and just dream. I would sit and read a book, but most times I would just watch, observe the birds and just enjoy this beautiful feeling of being at peace with myself and the world.

Since we're getting closer and closer to Christmas, I couldn't resist to alter the top photo in Photoshop:

For those of you who want to know how I did it, here's the recipe:

Levels adjustment
Copy that and use blending mode Multiply at 100%
Gradient Map adjustment in copper
Kim's texture "coffeeteaorme" in soft light at 100%
Hue/saturation adjustment
Bonnie's texture "Starburst" in Lighten at 85%
Brightness/contrast adjustment
Add text