THE RIGHT PLACE

Rex Burress

One of the keys of life is being in the right place, at the right time, with the right stuff. Think Teddy; “Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.” Or think real estate; “Location, location, location!”

I think of seeds being located in the right place for growth every time I see a flower grow, but the wonder is extended to a plant plopped into a stark crevice or other adverse site, although surviving in a gallant effort that might leave it deformed or strained. The cottonwood seed that landed on a rocky ledge near the Feather River Nature Center comes to mind. Due to a water seepage from a spring, it was able to grow, and is now a 20-foot beauty between the road and railroad. There are countless examples of this less-than-perfect growing condition--in plants AND animals--including man, often resulting in a show of inspirational success even though crippled.

One wonders whether life placement is due to chance, luck, or divine guidance. We know there are millions of seeds sent forth for distribution that perish for every one that lives. Millions of fern and fungi spores drift into the air, most never falling onto fertile fields. Equally awesome is the way junipers hunch among the rocks at timberline, growing gnarled and contorted at those challenging heights, perhaps preferring a more gentle habitat, yet that is the way of junipers and bristlecone pines.

Particularly memorable was the bristlecone forest in Nevada's Wheeler Peak mountains where the gallant pines sprawled in the dolomite rocks at 12,000-feet. Mighty winds off the desert sand-blast the bark into curves of incredible stained art, just as in the grove in the White Mountains of California. Take a look when you're young enough to breathe the altitude! I have 35mm slides!

Think of the incredible odds of one microscopic sperm reaching an egg that turned out to be YOU! Think of the possible locations you could have landed in: Coastal Castles, Royal Palaces, Big Sur, Skid Row! But for you, maybe you arrived in the right place for you. At one time, I thought I landed in the wrong place--poor Midwest farm place in the Depression of the '30's where it was cold and hot in turns--but it turned out to be my blessing--plop into a nature bonanza! Regardless, we have no choice of the Right Place for being born, do we? [Please God, not there!]

Across the river from the Feather River Nature Center, high on a rocky mass, extended island-like into the river, is a stunted pistache tree growing in a crack 10 feet above the water. It has been there for at least 25 years, surviving by dropping a root down to the water. So positioned in an unlikely place, 'The Little Red Tree” has thrived. Now its admirers wait to see if it survived the 2017 floods. [Little Red survived, even though severely scarred!]

Photographers thrive on being in the right place during some extraordinary pictorial opportunity, as we have seen on the Weather Channel's tornado chasers. Some of those 'right places' can be helped along by some shrewd planning, but more often, outstanding pictures are made by chance encounters. Rainbow pictures are a good example. “Be ready and know your camera's capability!”

I was in the right place when master artist Robert Rishell of Oakland, CA offered an evening art class in the 1960's. How inspirational to see him take a student's brush and a dab of paint to place in one spot on his new painting he had brought for show. That one spot transformed the entire canvas!

Likewise, the rockhound knows that the right place is the essence of the entire effort to find the right rock! Imagine me being right there after a pine fell in the hills, revealing a lode of quartz crystals beneath its roots! Imagine me catching a giant catfish while trying to catch a crayfish, in a pond I didn't even know had fish! “The Right Place!” Call it luck, or call it God, some things manifest a miracle!

“There's never just one thing that leads to success; it's always a combination of passion, dedication, hard work, and being in the right place at the right time.”--Lauren Conrad

“With writing, timing is everything. Being in the right place at the right time.” --John Ridley