A large cottonwood tree stands in a pocket of land between K-68 and the Marais des Cygnes River.
There is an empty pocket of land in the middle of Ottawa, Kansas, that was once filled with farms and houses. A series of floods cleared away the neighborhoods. Despite the installation of a levy system, this area between K-68 and the Marais des Cygnes River remains barren, allowing a lone cottonwood tree, the official state tree of Kansas, to anchor its old roots and spread its leaves to the sun.
Diana Staresinic-Deane 
Great shot! I’ll have to see if I spot that tree on one of the driveabouts I’m planning this summer.
I’ll see if I can create a map with the exact location for you when I get to my computer. Considering your own skill with photography, I take your compliment seriously!
I centered the map to this particular tree, which you can actually see very close to the K-68 highway in street view. It’s just north of (and I mean just north) of the highway, in the triangle formed by the river and Willow Street: http://goo.gl/maps/QNns
Thanks!. I’ll definitely look for it next time I do an excursion down that way.