One of the last elms, that ever existed, is on my old road. The tree died years ago, yet still has a life. The birds sit on the limbs to eat their bird seed. The hawks sit in the tree and wait for chipmunks and squirrels to run by. Woodpeckers frequently crawl up and down it looking for bugs.
This tree looks very scarry at night. Yet the tree looks great as the sun sets.
I look at it often as I travel down the road and wonder about all the different things it witnessed over the last 200 years.
In sharp contrast are the Tamarack trees that line the road and fields. I admit that I did not even know the name of this tree until I noticed the beautful colored pine needles and asked a farmer friend: "what the heck kinda tree is that?" Unlike other pine trees, the tamarack tree looses ALL of its needles in the fall and looks horrible. Rumor has it that the Tamarck trees were once very mean to the many many birds that slept in its protective branches at night. The trees curled up their warm needles and branches so the birds could not enter to stay warm on a very cold night. Word of this got to God and he was displeased. He told the tamaracks that if they did not want to protect the birds that so depended on them for warmth that they would no longer need their beautiful pine needles in the fall. So now every single last stink'n pine needle falls off just when the tree is in its peak splendor.
There is a message in there somewhere....
Be kind to birds.
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