Scribble Picnic. . . . . . . . .Tree

"Trees are poems that the earth writes upon the sky" 

Kahlil Gibran

TREE - quite a simple word for such complexity of form and function.

I'm definitely a tree lover. . . . . and, if totally honest, I guess a bit of a 'tree hugger'
 too. Yes, I might just hug a tree if I thought it was to be cut down or injured for
 no sensible reason.

I've viewed many trees in my travels around the world and it's quite amazing 
how varied they are. I've loved them all, from snow covered swathes of silver birch in
 Kamchatka, Russia, to tropical island palms blowing in Hawaiian breezes.
The towering redwoods I viewed in Northern California last year will never be forgotten.
Billowing pink flowering chestnuts in the Lake District of England, so beautiful.
Mighty ancient oaks and copper beech trees in the forests of my real home in Devon, 
bring back childhood memories of conker fights and nibbling beech nuts as I walked 
through the woods. I have always, yes always, loved the countryside for its trees.
The only place I've visited that lacks trees of any kind is of course 
Antarctica.  Did I miss them and their shades of green, yes of course, but other
 breathtaking land and seascapes brought a different beauty in cobalt blue, 
aquamarine and white to the eye for couple of weeks.

Oh I could definitely bend your ear with tree stories, including a few less loved
 ones that fell on the cottage roof and my car during a couple of infamous
 North Carolina hurricanes. . . . . . . . . but today, for Michael's theme
 for Scribble Picnic I chose to share a lonely tree from Kenya's Masaai Mara.
Please visit this week's participants at the picnic - I'm sure there will be some 
beautiful trees to view by talented artists from around the world.

On last September's safari to that beautiful area of Africa, the animals were 
unbelievable, however I was also struck by the trees. So few scattered
 across the plain, so little shade provided, but sometimes a home to birds who
 wove incredible colonies of hanging nests, whose trunk hid a sleek cheetah waiting
 to make that incredible lightning speed run to grab its meal for the day, and a place
 for the leopard to climb and hang its prey across a branch out of the reach of other
predators, then returning and climbing the tree for several days to eat.

One of several Maasai Mara desert date (Balanites aegyptiaca) trees I
 photographed - here you get the true feeling of how few trees there are. 
Edited to a sketch, with watercolor pencil scribbles for color.

"Keep a green tree in your heart and perhaps a

 singing bird will come"

Chinese proverb

 I'll be away for the next couple of weeks and unable to join the picnic party. 
Internet access on ships is usually sporadic and terribly expensive. I know from
experience that even if you are able to connect, it's so slow and costs a small
 fortune to post anything, especially pictures. I take my laptop really just for
 e-mailing family to keep in touch, and as an additional backup for new
 photos. Sadly I may have to take a short hiatus from blogging. . . . . . 

. . . . . . . but I hope to see you here later in May!