Do you have a favorite tree?
It could be Grandmother Willow as depicted in the Disney movie, Pocahontas.
Or you may have Shel Silverstein to thank for The Giving Tree.
Or is it General Sherman, believed to be the world’s largest tree, located in the Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks?
Maybe your favorite tree isn’t as famous.
Is your favorite tree the one in your parents’ back yard when you were growing up? The one you and your brother built a tree house in it. It’s the same tree that housed the new baby birds in their nests in the spring and held your tire swing in the summer. You jumped in its leaf pile every fall and used its fallen twigs to make snowman arms in the winter.
A recent news article has been shared around social media about the history of the Edgewater weeping willow. If you’re a Clevelander, you know exactly what tree I’m talking about, and odds are that it is your favorite tree.
In response to this said article, a friend commented,
“No one will (probably) ever cut down the Willow at Edgewater Park. Please choose another tree as your favorite on in the city so we can (hopefully) safe more of them.”
– Casandra Vasu
I too love the Edgewater weeping willow. I have logged a lot of miles walking and running by that tree, watched many sunsets through its branches, and seen it throughout every season. I have more pictures of it than I can count from these experiences. She’s very photogenic, what can I say?
It is definitely a staple in my Cleveland experience. And though I love the Edgewater weeping willow, it is not my favorite tree.
As much time as I’ve spent at Edgewater, I’ve spent even more time in other places throughout the city and greater northeast Ohio area. I love to walk, hike, and bike just about everywhere. From mid week hikes at suburban metroparks to lunchtime walks through the city and from fishing rivers to urban bike rides, I see a lot of trees. And during every outing, another one stands out.
Once, we came upon a tree with bark so thick that our fingers fit within its grooves.
Another time, I was hiking and came upon a bit of a opening in the woods where a sole tree stood alone in a flat open space.
Sometimes, there is one birch in a whole forest of pines.
Or the one with the most unique bark patterns I have ever seen.
Sometimes, I am looking down at my feet to watch my step as the trail terrain changes. My eyes follow the tangled roots from the ground up to see the tree.
My nephew and I climbed inside a tree and got a photo taken, one that I know we will look back on years from now.
There is always a tree that we use to stash our gear while we fish.
Sometimes, I pick two favorites: the ones that hold the hammock.
And there is that one someone used for fairy front door.
Or the pines with melting snow dripping from its needles.
Sometimes, I see a newly planted tree and envision its future.
I always pick a different favorite tree. Or maybe the trees pick me.
See the trees for the forest, but also see the forest for the trees.