Thursday Tree Love: Trees as Artists ~ with Faces, a Wing, and a Heart

Do you ever see shapes in tree trunks? Are these just random shapes that our mind interprets as meaningful images, a psychological phenomenon called, pareidolia? Or is it possible that trees are creating art or maybe sending us signs? Who can say for sure? Here are some examples I’ve seen recently in my neighborhood…

I see at least three faces, two in profile, and a wing.
What do you see?

The hemlock below is one I’ve shared before, but I had not noticed the gnarly face until recently. The face in the photo on the right reminds me of an alien wizard type character I’ve seen somewhere before, but I can’t quite place it.

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The eyes in the face I see are set far apart like a turtle. The mustache reminds me of the owl in the Secret of NIMH. My husband sort of sees a grumbly face, but he also sees a person’s body emerging from the tree with my “mustache” as legs.

Many dogwoods in my area have succumbed to a disease. I’m still in denial about my dogwood being dead as a tall evergreen shrub nearby hides its bare branches. My neighbor’s deceased dogwood stood alone and was clearly not coming back from the dead, so she had it cut down. Here’s a heart that could not be seen until after the tree was cut.

What signs have you seen from trees?

Thursday Tree Love is hosted by Parul Thakur on the second and fourth Thursday of each month. For more tree love, visit Parul’s blog here.

Thursday Tree Love: A Bowl and a Bend

I can only begin to imagine what might have given this tree such an unusual shape with a bowl at the bottom and a slender trunk bent back into an arch, yet still growing leaves. We discovered this unique individual on my daughter’s May birthday hike through a nature preserve in southeatern North Carolina. I do not know what kind of tree it is, perhaps some kind of laurel, but I do know that it is a survivor. Here are some close ups:

The Ev-Henwood Nature Preserve contains a variety of habitats and diverse terrain:

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  Main trail

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  Regeneration

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  Natural Foundations

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  Cypress

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  Pond

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  Palms and Cypress

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  Meadow

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  Granddaughter talking to a turtle

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  Turtle

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Thursday Tree Love is hosted by Parul Thakur on the secon and fourth Thursday of each month. For more tree love, visit: https://www.happinessandfood.com/thursdaytreelove-115/

Thursday Tree Love: A Poem and a Willow

WHEN I AM AMONG THE TREES
by Mary Oliver

When I am among the trees,
especially the willows and the honey locust,
equally the beech, the oaks and the pines,
they give off such hints of gladness.
I would almost say that they save me, and daily.
I am so distant from the hope of myself,
in which I have goodness, and discernment,
and never hurry through the world
but walk slowly, and bow often.
Around me the trees stir in their leaves
and call out, “Stay awhile.”
The light flows from their branches.
And they call again, “It’s simple,” they say,
“and you too have come
into the world to do this, to go easy, to be filled
with light, and to shine.”

I love weeping willows and looked for at least a year for one to accompany Mary Oliver’s poem that mentions them. What a surprise when I noticed this one hiding in plain sight behind my pharmacy which is located on a busy street. The willow, along with a water loving cypress, seem to be part of a small retention pond and drainage system created behind the pharmacy. There’s an auto repair business to the right, so this system probably filters a lot of city waste.

It looks like somebody’s mowed the grass recently near the cypress.

I wonder if the cage like structure could be a trash collecting device.
One day, I’ll investigate further.

Thursday Tree Love is hosted by Parul Thakur on the second and forth Thursday of each month. For more tree love visit Paurl at the link below:

https://www.happinessandfood.com/thursdaytreelove-114/

Thursday Tree Love: My Favorite Live Oak

“When we are OPEN, we have freedom, courage and creativity – not just to explore uncharted territories where intuition may lead, but also to move beyond limits.”

― Zamm Zamudio, Intuition: Discover the Inner Workings of our World –

This is my favorite live oak so far in southeastern North Carolina. It lives in a city park near a lake encircled by a five mile trail. Southern Live Oaks (Quercus Virginiana) are famous for their large, low, spreading branches. Some branches may even rest on the ground like South Carolina’s Angel Oak which I hope to visit one day.

I hope this gives you an idea of the tree’s size.

Thursday Tree Love is hosted by Parul Thankur on the second and fourth Thursday of each month. For more tree love, visit:

#ThursdayTreeLove – 111 – happiness and food

Thursday Tree Love: Tulip Tree

The tulip tree (Liriodendron tulipifera) is another early bloomer in the eastern US. The blossoms can be pink, white with pink, purple, or yellow. They are sometimes called “Ann Magnolia” or “Ann Star Magnolia.” I took these photos a couple of weeks ago on a gray day at the same park where the cypress live by the lake.

With many branches still bare,
the tulip tree blossoms offered a welcome splash of color.

Thursday Tree Love is hosted by Parul Thakur on the second and fourth Thursday of each month.

For more Tree Love, visit:

#ThursdayTreeLove – 107 – happiness and food

Thursday Tree Love: Early Bloomer (Bradford Pear)

“Expect to have hope rekindled. Expect your prayers to be answered in wondrous ways. The dry seasons in life do not last. The spring rains will come again.” Sarah Ban Breathnach (Brainy Quotes)

Bradford Pear Blossoms with Bumblebee

The Bradford Pear is considered an ornamental tree. Some people say they are invasive. I say they are prolific and lovely. The bees like them, too. With cross pollination, these trees can produce small berry-like fruit that is reportedly not good to eat raw. I hadn’t noticed the fruit before, but I’ll be looking for it. Bradford Pear Trees are occasionally mistaken for dogwoods that will blossom later with broader, more individualized flowers.

I took these first photos at my church. Hopefully we’ll be back in there soon. Do you see the evergreen mistletoe among the white blossoms?

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  This tree has been here for many years.

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  Bradford Pear Tree with Mistletoe

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  See the bees?

The next photos were taken in my neighborhood. The Bradford Pear Trees are relatively small compared the the pine trees and oaks.

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  This evening, a storm was forecast but never materialized.

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Thursday Tree Love is hosted by Parul Thakur on the second and fourth Thursday of every month. For more tree love, visit: #ThursdayTreeLove – 106 – happiness and food

Thursday Tree Love: Waiting for Spring

“In the depth of winter, I finally learned that within me there lay an invincible summer.”

― Albert Camus

This tree caught my attention on a recent walk to the little park near our home. I think this is an oak tree. In the summertime, I don’t think I would be as likely to notice her interesting trunk features or the clumps of mistletoe in the upper branches.

Waiting for Spring

~

Thursday Tree Love is hosted on the second and fourth Thursday of each month by Parul Thakur.

For more tree love, visit:

#ThursdayTreeLove – 104 – happiness and food

Thursday Tree Love: Hemlock?

My husband David identified this tree as a hemlock. We pass by it often on our walks in the neighborhood, and it stands out as different from the live oaks, pines, dogwoods, magnolias, and other trees common to the area.

In my search, I have not found a photo of a hemlock with such spikey looking leaves. What I have learned is that there are many different kinds of hemlock trees and plants. Some are poisonous and some are not, but it’s always good to be careful.

Thursday Tree Love is hosted by Parul Thakur on the second and fourth Thursday of every month. For more tree love visit: #ThursdayTreeLove – 103 – happiness and food

Thursday Tree Love #100: Deep Roots with Haiku

“Deep Roots are not reached by the frost.” JRR Tolkien

This weathered tree stands on a giant sand dune called “Sugarloaf” at Carolina Beach State Park. You might think that with roots exposed to much weather and erosion, the tree could topple any time. The view below suggests that its roots run deep where they can anchor into the sandy soil.

These trees have withstood hurricanes for decades.

Next, is a view from the top of “Sugarloaf.”

Tidal river trees

Standing strong for many years

Deep roots reaching down

Weather has its way

While deepest roots anchored well

Leave ghostly remnants.

At the bottom of the hill are remains of trees that stood tall long ago

Maybe these were once cypress trees.

I imagine their deep roots intertwine well below the surface.

Below is another tree at the bottom of the hill, but further back from the water. Sorry I don’t know their names (feel free to guess), but I certainly admire their perseverance.

This one seems to be holding its own.

I’m excited to be part of the 100th edition of Thursday Tree Love hosted by Parul Thakur. For more tree love, visit:

#ThursdayTreeLove – 100 – happiness and food

Thursday Tree Love: Live Oak with Spanish Moss

This particular southern live oak lives in Airlie Gardens near the coast of North Carolina.

The grounds keepers were just starting to decorate for the holidays, but nature has already decorated with Spanish Moss catching the afternoon sunlight.

My favorite work of human art in the gardens is this bottle house which also catches the sunlight.

Thursday Tree Love is hosted by Tharul Pakur on the second and fourth Thursday of each month.

For more tree love, visit:

#ThursdayTreeLove – 99 – happiness and food