Remarkable Trees

I have been doing Walkabouts these last few days with a focus on Trees.  These are some of my thoughts and reflections on these precious Walkabouts:

• I love Trees.
• I am an unabashed Tree Hugger.  
• I think Trees like to hug Humans too, and all other creatures. That surely must be why they have all of those beautiful branches.
• The world would be a richer, quieter, gentler space if we would let that Tree Hugger stuck inside the Human come out and play with our friends the Trees.
• Most Trees on the property are relatively young.  Some may be 100 years old, although I cannot tell.  
• This is our little blog and our tiny part of the Story as Human.  I wonder what those Trees would write.  If I listen quietly, maybe I will hear.  They've seen a lot.  They've observed the practices of the Human and I can imagine they have wondered what is going on with those 2 Leggeds who have no roots to the ground.  Humans come and go, and with them countless practices on this side of the fence and beyond.
• We have stately Oak Trees on 2 corners of the property. They were probably placed there as markers.
• When we first came here, we had a Maple with a pronounced hole in it where the large branches meet.  We would stare at the hole.  We would knock as if we were at the door of someone's house.  To our surprise, we were met with the large curious eyes of Flying Squirrels on the other side.  This past year, the hole closed up.  We Humans don't knock as much now, but sometimes we do. We keep passing by the Tree and wondering what our friends Mr. and Mrs. Flying Squirrel might be up to.
• I love the old Gnarly Trees which have some age on them.  They are very interesting.  One of those Trees (a Box Elder) has mostly died with just the outer bark standing.  Richard noted that new vigorous branches were shooting up from that old Tree.  How does it do that?
• We watch the bark and wood of the Elder Trees fall to the ground and become Soil.
• A lot of the Trees have fallen with the recent conditions.  Wind took them out.  Is that Nature's way of pruning?