"I think that I shall never see a poem lovely as a tree. . . .

Because I'm having trouble getting my "tree" pictures on Facebook, I decided to just do a quick post of some of the most interesting trees in my "collection."

This massive tree is the focal point of a small park in old downtown Galax, Virginia.
This one is close to home, near the shore of Aberdeen Lake. Obviously a nice home for trolls, elves, or other "little folk."This lumpy giant tree is really leaning as much as it appears. It is on the Nature Trail at my school, and we affectionately call it "Old Man Poplar." I would not be surprised to see it fallen across the trail at any time.

Our three-in-one favorite on the Nature Trail is called "Jack, Will, and Tom" after the characters in Richard Chase's beloved "Jack Tales." The three huge trunks emanate from a single base.

This is the view kids and adults love!

This one we call "The Slingshot Tree."And here is St. John--better known as simply "The Toilet Tree."

The final free photos are of the ancient tree my father identified for me at his grandfather's house, the mystery house of my "Mystery at the Loyd Homeplace." It is a gargantuan elm tree that was already huge when Daddy was a boy. and he's 95 now!

This tree was around long before the Civil War, the Battle of Atlanta, and maybe before the Loyd family built their house here.

I was especially delighted to see one of my favorite plants growing along this huge limb: Resurrection Fern. If you pick a sprig of it you can let it totally dry out, with no water. Then place it in a dish of water after weeks or even months and it will revive, unfold, and look like new. At school, I would do this repeatedly with the same sprig. It never ceased to amaze the children--AND me!

Resurrection is an amazing concept, and few organisms are better at surviving the rigors of time and weather than trees. Hug a tree today.