On trees and grape leaves.

This curious creation can be seen in the Cornell Plantations Arboretum in Ithaca, NY. Home, sweet, home. Gorges. Just gorgeous. I like the stringy spaghetti-like things hanging from this tree, and the wide flat leaves that remind me of grape leaves...which, incidentally, are one of my favorite things to eat from the local Mediterranean deli (stuffed, that is). SOOOO good.
This is a personable tree, don't you think? It looks clumsy and a little confused or sad, but funny. Dr. Seuss would probably approve. Definitely.

big tree, little car

This car belongs to the bf and runs on 100% biodiesel, usually from the local co-op. Big trees, little cars. I think that's how it should be.

a truffula tree, perhaps?

Some of my all-time favorite trees are those created by Dr. Seuss – not a real doctor, but absolutely a genius, as far as I'm concerned. A "Dr. Seuss tree" can't be exactly described, as it is fantastical, but we all know such a tree when we happen upon it in our everyday lives. It will look like it does not quite belong in a world where we take ourselves so terribly seriously. The one above looks like it was transplanted directly off the pages of a Dr. Seuss story, and I have an irresistibly childlike urge to touch it. To squish it. to sit on one of its tufts, perhaps as Horton would have sat upon his nest in another Dr. Seuss tree. I expect that there's at least one Lorax who calls this tree home.

I must not take credit for this photo. It was taken in Switzerland and I discovered it on iStockphoto, which is an amazing stock illustration and photo site that changed my life (or at least my job) once I discovered it. Try it. You won't be disappointed and you won't believe what a dollar will buy.

snowy trees.

I know it's May and we're in the midst of a beautiful spring, and it's currently 82 degrees outside...but I feel compelled to share this magical photo before summer gets any closer. It was taken only 2 weeks ago near Ithaca, NY. There was almost a foot of snow and it felt like Narnia. The trees were heavy, peaceful, and immensely beautiful.

Trees covered in thick, fluffy snow is definitely on my list of favorite things to look at in this world. Who doesn't like fluffy white trees?