Ibis Nights: Tree #3351

"... To shield me from the sun a sheltering cloak ..." (The Oak, Bernard Shaw)

Those hot summer rides when opportunities for relief, from the relentless sun, can be limited and difficult to locate. We seek out the shade, or most of us do, as the easiest, most accessible way to cool down. Has anyone not ridden on a flat, just to reach that first spot of shade, be it cast by a wall, an overpass, a bridge, or a tree, before breaking out the tire levers and spare tube? With their full, and often dense, canopies, oaks are among the most effective of the summer shade makers. One with three trunks - well, that is just three times the spread, three times the shade.

It may be mildly ironic that tree #3351 grows outside the Haldeman Pool at Pomona College since, when it comes to cooling off, jumping in a pool may be the one thing better than standing in the shade of a tree.

resting in the shade (well, mostly) Mulholland Drive, September 2012