A bit of an inside joke — when I discuss heartwood & sapwood with my students, I often joke that like my heart, the heartwood of a tree is, in fact, dead. Under the seemingly morbid delivery, is a truth about the biology of trees as they grow, mature, & evolve. And you know what… they remember it months & years later! ;)

This Catalpa piece grew in my hometown, experienced its own struggles & successes, & its heart may be a little dead, but we don’t hold that against it — it’s nature, after all!