Musing on trees

I am sitting here looking at a gum tree. It leans to one side and is slightly twisted. The tree across from it is also bent and twisted but in a different direction. So it can’t be the natural elements that have made them grow this way. I love how every tree is unique. I still wonder at the process that can make something grow into a recognisable form whilst also making it individual. Why does that branch divide off the trunk at just that point? Why is it bent that way? Why has it grown that tall and no taller or shorter?

I know there are many components apart from the latency within the seed that make a tree. Soil conditions, wind, rain, position, sun, passing traffic, human and animal intervention. None-the-less, the uniqueness of each and every tree is a total fascination to me.

I appreciate the non-tree too. Driving through Tibet last year, I was in total awe of the landscape – completely tree-less in most cases. MacKenzie country in New Zealand is quite barren of trees too and yet is a stunning place.

Trees have their own character and personality I’m sure. I wish the trees really could speak to us – or – I wish we could understand what the trees are saying to us. Think of the stories they could tell. Think of the long ages some of them stand. Think of all they can see with their height.

I love trees. I am so glad to live in a world with trees.