A Love of Trees

Recently, I’ve been enjoying a small, illustrated volume by the early 20th century German author Hermann Hesse. Appropriately titled Trees, it is a compilation of Hesse’s essays and poetry about a subject he clearly loved, the many species and situations of trees that graced his life.

Sensitively written, his writings explore the features of the trees he encountered from his childhood to his declining years. At the same time, he is often introspective as he probes the trees’ meaning for his life. This charming book is filled with Hesse’s own paintings of the trees that populated his time on earth.

I, too, have a long fascination with trees, and I include here some of my favorite photographs of trees.

What role do trees play in your life? Are there trees in your current life or in bygone years that have special meaning for you? If so, honor them and give them a special place in your heart.

A small grove of trees in the middle of a fallow cornfield not far from my home
A stand of aspen trees in fall colors in northern Arizona
The limbs of this elegant tree reach skyward as a brilliant sun pokes its rays around the massive trunk. On the grounds of the Frank Lloyd Wright Frederick C. Robie House in Chicago
Acacia trees populate the plains of Kenya
A venerable oak tree that long graced the road between my house and town. Alas, it was blown down in a violent wind storm and no longer exists
A stand of trees not far from my home
This tree enhances a hillside not farm from my home
A sycamore stands in the middle of a river in West Virginia
A lone acacia tree at dawn in northern Kenya

Published by Norman Reid

I worked for the U.S. Department of Agriculture for 27 years in the field of rural community and economic development. I retired a few years ago and have been devoting my time to photography and writing. I've been a semi-pro photographer for more than 25 years and sell my work on the Web. I live in rural Virginia not far from the Shenandoah Valley.

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