Boston Fire Department Office of Emergency Management

Frederick Law Olmstead designed this landscape, although perhaps the building in the background wasn't there. The reflection of the building in the water was what first caught my eye, but when I got to drawing, the tree came to be the center of attention. This species/variety of willow is very picturesque in its branching and there are specimens all along the Fenway and the Boston side of the Charles River Basin as well.

For me, this scene brings to mind the following bible verse:

Blessed are they who trust
and rest their confidence in God.
They are like trees planted by the waterside
that stretch their roots along the stream.
When the heat comes they have nothing to fear;
their spreading foliage stays green.
In a year of drought they feel no care,
and do not cease to bear fruit.

--Jeremiah 17:7-8

July 16, 1997