Daily Trees # 209

I have always been drawn to trees. Growing up in western Massachusetts next to a forest, trees offered me comfort. I found solace in the woods; the sounds of calling birds, the breeze singing through the needles of pine and hemlock, the rubbing and clacking when a big wind bends the old trunks of the birches and maples.

My move to Colorado changed only the species. I still find in our trees a sense being grounded and a symbol of the bridge between the earth and sky.

I also observe the parallels between trees and humans. When trees in an orchard get old, most die leaving a tenacious one alone. I relate as I lose friends. The trees use water for nourishment and to sustain life. As the climate changes, some withdraw their life force and move toward stump-hood. As we age, our joints remind us of our loss of fluids.

Now, as I inch toward a name change to Octogenarian, I sense the trees as kindred spirits. Like humans, the old ones make the most interesting pictures.