There really isn't a poem as lovely as a tree.

Trees are among my very favorite friends in nature.  I tend to think of them as creatures rather than magnificent plants, either way, they're so cool.  I have vivid memories of specific trees all through my life.  The cathedral of elms under which I walked to & from grammar school. The glorious white ash which kept me mesmorized looking at it's upper reaches from our second story window: the bird & squirrel traffic was better than cartoons!  The ancient helmlocks I visited once whose immense size, age & grace humbled and awed me into silence.  Evergreens that I planted then revisited (not that many) years later amazed to see them reaching for the sky far over my head. The marvelous old linden with secret highways that I taught my baby to see and enjoy.  The line of pines, so neat and arranged, planted by my grandfather (for me to enjoy, I am sure :).  Crab apple trees around a parking lot near where I worked under which you could experience the sensation of floating in a delicate world of pink.  The palm trees in tropical climates are so gentle, relaxing and encouraging: bend with the winds and you will survive.  The Ents in Tolkien's Lord of the Rings, are my favorite creations of literature.  They are sad but hopeful, enduring & realistic, slow to anger yet strong & full of purpose when moved.

No one, including yours truly, can duplicate in words or any other art form, the wonder that I feel when consciously aware of a tree. I sense: how deep into the earth its roots cling; the life it supports rentfree; the air it purifies as a part of just being; the shade it provides; inspiration for poets et al; opportunities for climbing or even creating a human house among the nests; glorious colors through all seasons.  In the course of life, all things die.  I have wept to see a familiar tree give up the ghost, become lifeless.  I've wept angry tears when trees are demolished for reasons of greed & ignorance.  All that is part of the picture, the yin/yang of life.  I'll keep appreciating the trees around me, look forward to meeting new ones.  I'm not sure why I've chosen to write about threes today however, if anyone sees these marvelous gifts of earth in a new way because of what I've written here, then I am happy.  Go hug a tree!