My Fascination with Trees

I’m not sure when my fascination with trees began but I do remember the first tree I truly loved. It was a huge willow tree that umbrellaed over half of our grassy yard, providing shade in the hot summers and reprieve from the winds in the winter. I can still see it in my mind’s eye, swaying elegantly back and forth in the breeze. I have fond memories of my sister and I playing under the tree with our Barbies and often just our imaginations. We had a swimming pool and we would retreat to the Willow to get out of the sun on a hot day. I remember my mom laying on her lounge chair under the Willow, reading a book or a magazine.

I didn’t have a love affair with a tree again for a long time after that. It wasn’t until I had rented my own little cottage on a dirt road in the desert that I fell in love with a tree again. My yard had a giant Cottonwood tree out front that shaded my house and yard from the blinding morning sun and the harsh noon sun. The Cottonwood stood tall and proud. She was at least 100 feet tall with strong, sturdy branches and tons of leaves that rustled in the breeze making the prettiest sound, like nature’s wind chime. I would wash my Jeep in the shade under the tree on a hot afternoon. I would sit out in a comfy camp chair and enjoy the breeze on summer evenings. I still remember the day that the landlord came by to let me know he was having her cut down. He said an arborist confirmed that she was diseased and he was concerned about her falling and hurting something else. I was so sad about it and couldn’t console myself. I told my love all about it and he did the SWEETEST thing. After they cut the tree, he came over in his truck (we hadn’t lived together yet), and one by one put the stumps of the tree into the back. It was no easy feat. He had to roll them up a makeshift ramp made of plywood, each one weighing hundreds of pounds. He had to make two trips because the weight of them were bottoming out the bed of his truck and he didn’t want to chance breaking the suspension. He got all five of them for me though and placed them in his backyard as seats around his fire pit. I loved that I’d have the opportunity to visit them whenever I liked. They are still there to this day. Even after we sold the house, I told the purchaser the story of the tree stumps and she loved it. She also thought her boys would really love the fire pit and the idea of s’mores in their own backyard. It pleases me so much that they are still there.

At our new home, we have more trees than I can count now that we live in a forest on a lake. I am starting to have a love affair with our Myrtle Wood tree next to the house and there are two old growth trees on the lot next door that make me smile every time I see them. I’m sure that my love affair for trees will continue to grow over time as we live here as trees have always been a source of happiness for my heart.