This image was taken just down the street from Sorensen's Resort on Highway 88 near the Carson River. Hoping to find a treasure in the busy aspen grove on the side of the road, I parked my car on the shoulder and walked through the underbrush to explore. I loved the color, the light, and the trunks, but nothing was really coming together for me until I headed back to the car and spotted this young aspen beginning its life among its siblings. I love the way it seems to be held in the embrace of the circle of the other trees. Aspens grow in clonal colonies, which means that all the aspens in a group come from the same root stock. This one among the many is the younger twin of its protectors.