Ode to a Tree

About 8 feet from where I type this note, there is a huge tree. As I rarely go outside, and when I do, rarely look up, this tree is something that I really didn’t notice the hugeness of until recently. This is ironic, because the tree is by far and away the largest single object in my life. To give you some idea of how huge this tree is, here is a picture:

That puny little blue house with a red roof to the left of the tree is our house. And inside that puny house, behind the left-most window on the first floor, is my office. A rough calculation suggests that the tree is about 30 times taller than I am. And about three and a half times taller than our house. If the tree fell on me, I would die. If the tree fell on my house, my house would be crushed.

My friends will tell you that I am the person least likely to wax eloquent about the wonders of nature. But it’s hard not be impressed, awed even, by a force that can produce something so impressive and majestic.

So, on this Canada Day, let’s all hail the tree.

Comments

SA's picture
SA on July 2, 2003 - 15:49 Permalink

nice tree, but…what kind is it?

kalifornication's picture
kalifornication on July 2, 2003 - 20:29 Permalink

looks like a Linden, close relative to the Elm

Alan's picture
Alan on July 2, 2003 - 20:34 Permalink

There is that great ode in the musical Caberet, I think at the end of the first act where a folk tune about the Linden morphs into a Nazi hymn. If it is in fact a Tilia americana, lets call it a basswood.