Every tree tells a story

Every tree has a story. Somehow the tree was planted, maybe seed was blown by the wind, carried by a bird, sown by a gardener, maybe it's an offshoot of another tree. Conditions were right for this particular tree - others seedlings may have been eaten, pulled up or died from lack of water, but this special seedling managed to survive.

Time passed and the tree grew, maybe many years passed, hundreds even and the tree is a local legend. This tree has seen many seasons: summers of drought and clouds, followed by a falls of fire or rain, bitter and mild winters, floods and warmth of springs. Maybe only a few years have gone by and the seedling has grown only to the size of a large bush.

Soemthing has happened where the tree grows, it's seen human dramas, roads and buildings have come, the tree even became host to some child's fort of dreams. Children have imagined great things here, picnickers have dozed in its shade, lovers have hidden under its arching canopy. Perhaps a gardener has tended it carefully and planted a whole garden to compliment it. Shy animals have come cautiously to the tree, brought their young and gone again, unseen by human eyes. Migrating birds have rested here en route to far off destinations.

The tree stands as a sentinel, guarding a gateway, a witness to history, a memorial to someone loved and lost. The tree provides shelter to some, nutrition to others - perhaps was once part of a long forgotten orchard - it provides fodder for fires and for our imaginations.

Look at this tree, growing strong in all its glory, or past its bloom, it's nearly ready to fall. Listen to the tree, to the birds in its branches, to the wind whistling through the leaves, to the rain as it falls. Listen to the story this tree has to tell.