The oak standing alone is exposed to every storm.

Its roots reach out in every direction, clutching the rocks and piercing deep into the earth.

Every rootlet lends itself to steady the growing giant, as if in anticipation of fierce conflict with the elements.

Sometimes its upward growth seems checked for years, but all the while it has been expending its energy in pushing a root across a large rock to gain a firmer anchorage.

Then it shoots proudly aloft again, prepared to defy the hurricane.