I write not about the mythical Trees we read about in faery tales or of TreeBeard, the Ent most spoken of in Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings. (Now would that be most interesting if it was?). Trees often produce interesting shapes and within the shades often resemble anything from a head, to a figure lying down or even a large hand with outstretched fingers.

Exotic trees often produce an eerie shape like unto a woman and radiates an amorous effect which even the most experienced of tree huggers would not resist. Some trees like the Weeping willows have droopy branches and reflects a ‘sorrowful’ feeling. Some trees grow tall and large with age like the Giant Sequoias. They date back centuries and they reflect the strength and wisdom of the woods. Now I mentioned phases. Phases of trees are restricted to the temperate climates when a tree looses and gains its leaves, flowers and/or fruits.

Think of the cycle as a tree and you will know what I mean. We shall start in Winter when the branches are bare, lifeless. Resembling nothing more than a large corpse or a skeleton of what was once alive. What we cannot see is that there is indeed hidden life within its seemingly dead branches. The beginning of spring brings about the first leaves, fresh and young and a beginning of new life springs forth. By mid spring we get to see the leaves and the first flowers. Every tree often produces its flowers towards the middle and late spring.

In summer with full leaves and flowers aplenty, we see life in full glory, birds sing amongst the branches and insects flit about pollinating the flowers.

Autumn causes the fruits of trees to mature and the colour of the leaves to fade as the tree begins to prepare itself for a period of dormancy. Autumn Leaves holds true to its song as we see the leaves like Maple, oak and hawthorn fade and producing the colours like unto the setting sun. The life of the trees are saying a temporary farewell to the seasons.

As snow falls during winter we are back again to the stage where they lie dormant, asleep. During those times before, they may have produced cones, seeds and other forms of spreading their life. Small packages of life being spread across the forest floor or dispersed by animals, ensuring that they have extended their life. It takes a gust of wind to blow some airborne seeds to another part of which its parent plant has laboured to give itself life elsewhere. Thus trees too have made travels to many a land far and wide.

In Tropical climates, trees do not differ much and the cycle is pretty much the same. But then in the tropics it is a battle zone. The rich canopies of the rainforests often make the trees labour even harder to ensure that they seedlings are not engulfed amidst an ever crowding forest floor, striving and fighting for light. A seed of a tree falls to the ground and is in danger of being eaten. Some may have a little luck and are gathered up by small animals to be stored away into the ground, and hopefully conveniently forgotten, thus they are planted and they shall grow. Nevertheless they still need to grow and there is nothing more disastrous than a seedling being killed by the leaf of its own parent plant falling upon it. You see, life is not as easy as it seems being a tree.

Back to the faces of trees. Is it not often that one almost swears that the chanced upon a face of an old man whilst strolling amidst the woods? One day when you take a walk, try looking. You may very well be greeted by a face whom have lived since the days of old. Better still, it may look back at you.