palm trees, if you please

In honor of Palm Sunday, let me introduce you to my new favorite tree. Perhaps it's because I grew up in a cold climate, but for some reason I was completely delighted and enthralled with the palm trees when we visited the beach a few weekends ago. Palm trees! They're so weird! furry, pointy, sharp, soft, green, brown, stringy, smooth...so many contradictions in one tree! Ok, these are probably just a momentary, when-I'm-at-the-beach favorite.

But so great! And it turns out there's also a lonely little palm tree in the back yard of my brother's new home in Pensacola...and I must say, he sounded about as excited about it as I would be. Hurray!

**YOUR TREES** [Icy Winter hangin' on...]

Special thanks to my dad for these gorgeous tree photos!
If these icy shots weren't so beautiful, I'd almost feel guilty that there are daffodils popping up all over the place around here. Not an icicle in sight. (I wish we'd had at least ONE ice or snow storm this winter...)
Winter always hangs around longer in Upstate New York. But at least the sun was shining after the ice storm!

Tree font

Considering that I am a graphic designer, I suppose it's appropriate to discuss fonts for a minute. Frequently the word "font" is misused, ("typeface" is usually more accurate) but since we're dealing with trees rather than typography, I suppose we can just call this an "icon font." The one above is appropriately named "Tree assortment." If you'd like to know how your name looks spelled out in little trees, by all means, go here.

Below, an example of the charming font named "Tree."


Makes me wish I was in a treehouse with a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.

colorless

Have you ever walked around in a cloud-like state and attributed it to lack of sleep, and then the next day attributed it to the weather, and the next day to what you ate, and then the following week you assumed it was due to lack of exercise and then the next month assumed it was your dysfunctional work environment, not to mention the house is a mess and there are so many things to do and people to write to and places to go, and for heaven's sake, why is the cloud still hanging around your head when you've been sleeping and eating and running? And by the time the trees are fully bare and then starting to sprout again, your head has permanently buried itself in the cloud surrounding it, and will remain stuck right where it is. And when will the trees bloom colors again?

Oh, sweet trees.

Grow this!

Imagine my complete and utter delight to come upon this little treasure in a local independent toy store. A Magic Tree! Crystals! Watch it grow! In a few hours! There was absolutely no way I could pass it up, and so I decided to document the process of growing my first Magic Tree. What could be easier? You mix the crystal powder with a tiny bit of water...pour it into a dish...and in a few hours you have a magic tree. And it looks rather like a Dr. Seuss Tree, don't you think?








Magic! You actually CAN watch the crystals grow, which is completely awesome.
Important things to note: (taken from the back of the package)
1) COMPLETELY ARTIFICIAL
2) Adults and children of all ages will be delighted to receive this small treasure.
3) Miniature saucer not included.
4) Mailable.
5) It will even grow in a refrigerator.

By now you are undoubtedly wondering "where can I get myself one of these magical wonders with the imperative on the package, demanding that I grow one?"
Look no further than magic garden, where you can also purchase a Magic Dinosaur or a completely real, not-at-all-artificial Peanut Tree. I have 2 on order, and look forward to also growing peanuts.

trees in winter

patiently waiting for spring.

Winter Wonderland

I currently live in the south, where we are rarely graced with even a flake this time of year. So in an effort to bring more fluffy white trees to my blog this winter, I am recycling some of last year's trees from an April storm in upstate New York. I had flown north for a "spring" wedding and ended up stranded by a foot of snow. Ah...so glorious! Couldn't work, couldn't get home...so naturally, we played in the snow.

Living on a tree

In case you don't know, you absolutely must: You can live in a palm tree. Or, rather, on one. We humans have actually shaped the land (played God, if you will) and created Palm tree islands in Dubai, sticking out into the Persian Gulf.

OK, so you can only live here if you have millions of dollars.

These are (or will be) the three largest man-made islands in the world. (one is still barely begun, but when finished, it will put the other two to shame). Currently, The Palm Jumeirah is considered the Eighth man-made wonder of the world. "Helping solve Dubai’s beach shortage, the island has doubled Dubai’s existing coastline and will also double the number of beachfront hotels in the city."
Ironically, I don't imagine there are too many trees growing on these homemade tree islands. Can anyone verify this? Has anyone been there? Does anyone have anything good to say about these extravagant, opulent, arboreal (FAKE!!) islands?

Resigned

"I like trees because they seem more resigned to the way they have to live than other things do."

– Willa Cather

(Thanks, Blue!)

tree top

I'd like to climb up there.

Ansel Adams

Today's featured artist is Ansel Adams - a master of breathtaking black and white landscape photography. I've collected several of his famous tree photographs here.

Adams was a pianist, photographer, writer and environmentalist born in San Francisco in 1902. He loved nature from a very young age and spent a great deal of time hiking, exploring and photographing in Yosemite National Park and the Sierra Nevada. Adams was devoted to conservation issues, and fought hard to protect areas of American wilderness from development. He also worked to promote photography as fine art and played a role in establishing the first department of photography at the MOMA.

See more photos here and here.




I hope that my work will encourage self expression in others and stimulate the search for beauty and creative excitement in the great world around us.

- Ansel Adams (1902-1984)

Happy New Year