Trees, Wonderful, Admirable, Amazing Trees

I’ve been wanting to do a post on some of the wonderful trees I’ve encountered in our travels. Today’s walk back to some old growth cypresses has inspired me to try.

The star of the walk was the “castle tree”, that giant furthest out in the water. Bud has a cold and didn’t want to walk in the 33 degree weather, so I pressed Matey into service to give some sense of the size of these monsters.

Since my favorite wildlife is trees, I am almost always among them…

even if they are only a few inches tall, like this specimen at the Burnt Cape Ecological Preserve in Newfoundland.

One of the most sacred places I have ever been is amidst the giant redwoods in California.

We visited them not long after seeing these amazing bristlecone pines. They are growing above 10,000 feet in altitude and are thousands of years old.

Trees don’t move on a time scale that we can see, yet they manage to adapt to the place where they are growing, even when the ground beneath them changes.

Some trees are majestic…

and some are whimsical…

and all of them add so much beauty.

They hold the soil in place…

and give us oxygen.

Though I have met many wonderful trees…

this poor thing growing beside the road into Lake Catherine State Park remains one of my favorites because to me it represents hope. No matter what we humans manage to do the trees will go on.