Ghost Tree

Riding on my bike today, I passed a tree that I hadn't looked at properly before, or never really noticed. And I did a double take because somehow the color seemed off. It was this pale pale grey - but an unnatural shade. And even though it was just the corner of my eye, it caught my attention. It looked like this:




















A beautiful dove grey color.

Something made me look up, and when I did, I noticed there were no leaves on the tree, and in fact, at that point, I saw the biggest web I have ever seen. Not a spider, but rather the web of pest caterpillars. These caterpillars, had completely enveloped the tree from the base of its trunk to the tips of its branches.

It looked like this:



















You can see the natural color of the tree where there is a bit of a break in the web.

So really, I was only looking at a ghost tree. And when I took a step closer, I saw the parasites that had taken over. I stepped away. Continued peddling on. But the tree is in the back of my mind still.