Trees

I remember back in my schooldays the advise given about writing an essay was to, "Just start.  You can come back later to write the introduction."  So, rather than sit here and stare at a blank screen, I'll just start.

I've been reminiscing about the importance of trees in my life.  I suppose my love for them started with one of my earliest memories, going along the banks of a creek, carried on my grandfather's shoulders so I could reach up to touch the leaves of the trees.  Learning the names of the trees and the birds that made their homes in them.

Every now and then a line or two of a poem we were taught at school will come back to me, on rare occasions a whole poem.  One I think of often is Trees by Alfred Joyce Kilmer.

I think that I shall never see
A poem lovely as a tree.

A tree whose hungry mouth is prest
Against the earth's sweet flowing breast;

A tree that looks at God all day,
And lifts her leafy arms to pray;

A tree that may in summer wear
A nest of robins in her hair;

Upon whose bosom snow has lain;
Who intimately lives with rain.

Poems are made by fools like me,
But only God can make a tree.

My thoughts are a bit scrambled.  In a round about way I'm trying to explain why at the tender age of 81 I made the decision to move from a lovely little unit to another in the village, not as desirable in many ways, but which looks out at trees.  A move of 100 metres takes as much packing and unpacking as a move across the ocean.  I had a great team of helpers, couldn't ask for better, but I was aware that we are all senior citizens (except my son and daughter who did the heavy lifting) and old bodies don't take too kindly to heavy work,  The move was made a week ago and my body has nearly recovered but even on the days when every muscle ached, I looked out at those trees and couldn't (and still can't) get the smile off my face.

I feel a contentment I haven't felt since leaving the farm and our neighbour the Tangihua Forest.

It's rained every day since moving day but this morning there was a short burst of sunshine and I shot off a few photos of the native bush area where I have placed my old wooden bench seat. 

  

I'll wait for the sunshine to return to try to capture just some of the beauty of my new surroundings.  Meanwhile I still have some unpacking to do.