Earth Day and Arbor Day - A Celebration of Trees

Today is Earth Day 2015 and Friday is Arbor Day. Since I have too many things to do today, and since I need a center of quiet in me to forge through and succeed in all of my tasks, I'm doing a photo blog today about trees. I love trees. I've been known to hug trees. I enjoy their variety, the different barks, leaves, flowers and fruit. I enjoy their whispers and their songs as they dance in concert with the spirits of air. Basically, to me there is little better than a tree.

One of my absolute favorite trees is the maple, and here we have
row upon row of Red Maple trees showing their fall foliage. 

Here's one more maple in autumn glory. Maples are the
"sparkle queens" of the tree world, but I happen to be
very fond of Sparkle Queens. 

Oak trees are sentinels, guardians, and shelters. They spread
their wide branches to create welcome shade in hot climates, they
protect from snowfalls and they absorb the whispered secrets of
children playing in the shade. Oak trees are stalwart allies. 

I don't think I've ever met a chestnut tree in person. They don't grow
in areas where I've lived. But seeing this photo just reminded of the
Longfellow poem that begins: "Under a spreading chestnut tree, The
village smithy stands;". 

Aspen trees, here shown in their autumn raiment of gold, were more
of what I grew up with. The ever-present whisper of their leaves
sang me to sleep countless times. 

When I moved south for school, I came across this tree - a profusion of
blooms that stopped my mother in her tracks. Mimosa trees are
trees of hot weather. My mother and I had never seen one before and
were stunned at their beauty. 

The final offering for this day of the earth is an evergreen forest. This
is much closer (without the mountainous terrain) to what I get up here
in the northern US, and is what I grew up with in the mountains of
Colorado. The evergreen, it's sticky sap and astringent smell, has
been a part of my life for as long as I can remember. We honor this
tree by bringing it into our homes in the deep winter and decorating it, we
celebrate it in song and stories:  Our tannenbaum - our evergreen. 

So, as I get ready to swim, I leave you with the reminder that we are not the only beings on this earth and to treat the earth with love and respect because She gives life back to us again and again. Happy Wednesday to all. I'll be trying out my new Guppy Tunes this morning in the water, so I'll try and remember to let you know how it went in tomorrow's blog.