to touch a tree

I am fascinated by texture and surface quality. I like to touch things that look interesting. I love to feel the paint brushes in an art store, touch the rocks in a science museum, handle all the beads in the make-your-own-jewelry stores. Tasseled lamps and fringe are unbelievably satisfying to me. The little rug samples in hardware stores...silk and velvet in fabric stores...ceramic dishes, and the patterns painted on to them. Flowers with dense centers or fluffy dandelions. Shiny leaves and spongy moss. Do Not Touch signs irritate me. If something begs to be touched, why not? I even feel compelled to touch cacti in a botanical garden. Smooth, slippery, rough, patterned, sharp, hard, rubbery, cold, soft...I'm very tactile. So, it may come as no surprise that I like to touch trees. This tree has amazing surface texture, and I had to restrain myself from pulling it apart. Of course I would never want to damage the tree, but I bet it would be as satisfying as peeling off old wallpaper. And think how smooth and new underneath all that curly bark!