"The Champion"

Ashes to ashes, dust to dust. I love trees. Especially big old ones. Dirt is the decayed remains of life. Trees live on all that is good in dirt, all that was once living. Trees have an element that connects them to our own selves, and as such, they are precious to me, holding all the secrets. I feel peace among trees.

This particular one I am very fond of and see regularly, but never saved for posterity before. I decided today was a good day to share one of my favorite companions - the oldest Cork Elm in Maine. I suspect this distinction may be debatable, but I'll buy into it. Perhaps it would be more true to say it is the oldest known Cork Elm in Maine.

By all appearances it is a good healthy tree and has been steadfastly growing while an impressively respectful town also has been growing around it. It stands and watches as we attend to our self proclaimed important busyness, right at the corner where one turns in to enter the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard main gate.

Astonishingly enough there are a lot of oooooold trees on the base. They are remarkable, and the energy from them is so wonderful. Lilac bushes that have been allowed to grow without disturbance for hundreds of years, which now qualify as trees. Evergreens with trunks that a couple children could easily hide behind, undetected, with branches they could sleep on. Cameras and photography are not allowed on the base, and I've never bothered to get the permit required to do that, so you will just have to take my word for it. Below are some pics I took of the Cork Elm:

Just a quick note - this morning Paul told me about the dream he had last night. He was teeing off on the first green, and there on his tee, ready to swing at was a piece of french toast, folded in quarters. There was something on the tee at the second green too, but I was laughing too hard and wiping tears, to hear what that was.

So I got my belly laugh in today.

And it is my wish for all my friends that as the sun sets on their day today that they find a moment of serenity to enjoy it.

Peace