Only God Can Make a Tree

I think that I shall never see
a poem as lovely as a tree. - Joyce Kilmer

I climbed a tree today. I'm 46 years old and I climbed a tree. I was walking my dog through this lovely wooded area in the park by my house, and admiring the old "climbing tree" that my kids used to climb when they were small. It looked inviting.... I thought about it but walked on. Then I turned around, walked back to the tree, and climbed up to the little V crook and sat down.  I held onto the branches next to me. The bark felt rough but nice. I looked around at the view. I looked up into the higher branches. I examined the leaves. And I just sat there for about 5 minutes, taking it all in, enjoying that same exact wonderful feeling that I used to have when I climbed trees as a kid. I felt part of nature and connected to the Earth.  I could feel my heart rate slowing down and my body relaxing. It was quiet and just so...peaceful.

I was only up there for about 5 minutes and I really wanted to stay longer,  but since I had my dog with me, I really couldn't.  I had hooked his leash on a branch, which, if you know anything about my dog,  was a very risky maneuver. If another dog or squirrel  or cat came by at any moment, he would rip that entire tree down to get to it.  I didn't want to test my luck by staying too long, so I reluctantly climbed down.  I will go back another day without the dog. Next time, I will stay a lot longer.

I've had trees on my mind all week. It started with some photos that my aunt put up on Face Book. She lives in Portland, OR in a high rise apartment building where there is a beautiful grove of trees in the front. She sent the photos because the trees are soon going to be cut down to make room for a new stretch of track for their city transit system. She is sad about the trees being cut down, even though the expansion of the transit system will be a good thing.  The people in her building had a little goodbye ceremony for the trees and that really touched me.

A few days later, I read an article on DailyOM about tree houses. The article was about the benefits of having your own tree house. A private sanctuary to go read or think or just be still. I thought to myself how lovely it would be to have a tree house in our yard, except we don't  have an appropriate tree so that isn't going to happen.  My teenage kids would totally balk at that idea anyhow, and if I told them the tree house was for me, that would only confirm in their minds that I truly am the weird,  tree-hugging hippie mom they claim that I am.

Oh well. A mom's gotta be herself. I feel good. I'm glad I did that and I can't wait to do it again. And next time, I'll climb even higher. I don't care who might see me.

When was the last time you climbed a tree?