Naturally Connected: A Tree with a Special Message Inside

During this past Christmas holiday season, I had very mixed feelings about purchasing a Christmas tree. For many years now I have purchased living trees that could be replanted outside after their time inside. I am currently living in a rental house that doesn't really have space to plant extra trees outside. I thought very seriously about purchasing a man-made tree, but had concerns that the chemicals used to make these trees were not sustainable. Eventually we went to purchase a cut tree at lot down the street where the proceeds of the sales went to support a local church. However, I was feeling very guilty about it, because it makes me sad that the trees give their life to be cut and displayed for a few weeks and then discarded.

After bringing the tree into the house, we stuck the bottom of the tree in the stand and the metal part broke off inside the tree. We had to go back to the tree lot and buy a new stand and borrow a saw from the neighbors to cut off the bottom part of the tree that had the broken metal piece inside of it. The image you see here is from the inside of the tree trunk that we cut off. I was shocked at the image in the middle of the tree. Have you ever seen anything like this? Please tell me what you see on the inside of the tree?

I have no physical explanation for how this image could exist within the middle of the tree's trunk that we cut. If the image would have been at the bottom of the tree when we bought it, I would have immediately assumed that someone had carved it or had drawn it there. But there was nothing on the side that was cut at the tree lot. At the bottom of the tree there is now a darkened area from the place where the Christmas tree holder was inserted and broke off. The hole in the bottom part of the tree from where the stand was goes about an inch and a half to two inches into the trunk, but the part of the trunk we cut off was about four inches. Thus, I don't think that whatever trauma we may have caused the tree would be reflected at this point in the trunk on the other side.

If anyone has had images that have appeared in the cut trunks of trees that do not seem to fit with the regular annual growth circles I would appreciate hearing from you.