I pass this tree on my walk home from work everyday. The tree's striking, rod-straight posture is distinctly eye-catching. That and the fact that it towers over the surrounding trees and houses, which themselves are not small.
Every time I see him, I'm reminded of that nostalgic line: "look up, look waaaay up." Indeed I think this lofty fellow is a friendly giant. But a very controlled and dignified giant. The way the branches only begin after more than half the tree's height is surpassed, and even then, are so well-groomed and trimmed to suggest a very well-composed disposition.
His rings are many, and though he is aged he does not bend. He stands as straight, and tall, and forthright as in his younger days. And though he has had many trimmings, he is not hardened. His upright stance gives the impression that he would be a very effective and authoritative orator, but in actuality is quite gentle and soft-spoken, speaking in an unhurried, ponderous, British accent, having learned over his many years that there is no need to rush. And really, he feels he has said it all anyway, and prefers to listen. But when he does speak, he has a tendency to use phrases like "indubitably" and "most certainly" which does lend him an excessively solemn air.
He is an excellent listener, and loved most the years when a young family lived in the house, when the neighbourhood was new. The youngest child, a girl with yellow hair, would sit with her back against the tree, singing softly to herself while she re-arranged ant communities and wove daisy crowns. Thinking of this still makes him smile, a small, faint smile, more noticable in the inward crinkle of his branches.
Now that I've sketched him, it's amazing how intimate and familiar the shape of the branches and twists and turns of the limbs and abandoned squirrel nest are to me. I would like to sketch the other trees that make up the daily backdrop of my walks, to richen the landscape. I have always felt a kinship with trees, but it's nice to really pay attention to them, and by drawing them, you have to look at each individual part, and you do get to know your subject quite well. And I think the names and stories will just naturally occur from my human impulse to anthropomorphize non-human things.
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