Linda Barnes, Class of 2024
I have loved and appreciated nature my whole life. As a Master Naturalist I have learned so much and appreciate it even more, always in awe at what I discover. While walking on my property one day, (which has been in my family since the early 1940’s) photographing trees, I became very nostalgic. I started thinking about all that these trees had provided myself and my family over the years. I wrote the words below to express how I felt.
My Trees
You were standing tall the day I was born
Roots running deep
Branches reaching skyward
Healthy – strong
You have stood sentinel – sunrise to sunset
Silhouetted against a dimming sky
Moon rising high above
I have known you all my life
Played under your outstretched limbs – climbed you – celebrated beneath you
You have provided our wildlife with food and shelter
And me with shade
Everchanging through the seasons
I watched in awe – new buds making an appearance
Growing, greening brilliant into spring leaves – flowers blooming
I have sat in your shade –leaves whispering in the summer breeze
Looking up – a kaleidoscope of greens and yellows against blue sky
I have delighted in your falling leaves
Riding a soft breeze – while swirling to the ground
Orange, red, yellow, brown
I have admired your skeletal form in winter
The uniqueness of your design, the beauty of your shape
Your nakedness exposed
Silhouettes against gray skies
I have watched you grow up and out – watched as you have aged
Some of you became gnarled and bent, knotty or cracked
Some have lost limbs, others have fallen
Due to age or storms
My fallen friends have helped nourish the earth or became firewood...
Still useful when you could no longer stand
I am losing you my friends, one-by-one
My heart is saddened to see you go
Old when we met, still older now – we age together
And yet – you still calm me, inspire me
Fill my soul with wonder
You provide life and beauty – you are my trees
