Travel Theme: Trees and Treehuggers

Ah, treehuggers. I don’t normally consider myself as one of their number, but I really am.

I realized this as I thought about my examples for a travel theme prompt, and I realized that my love for trees is not really about their beauty, but about an emotional connection I feel to them.

Columbia, MO. If you drive south on Providence out of town and on about 20 minutes,  standing stark and tall in the middle of Missouri farmland is this. I’m not sure what kind of tree it is or how old or is, but it’s really old and kind of known around outdoorsy circles in Columbia.

One can also bicycle to the tree, which I’ve done. Ride the MKT trail out of Columbia to where it intersects with the Katy Trail in McBaime, and the ride a mile down the road and you’ll come to it. One night, in undergrad, I met a guy on the MKT and we kind of dared each other to Ride out there, and we had one of those special nights that feels like an adventure.  Then we talked on the phone and the spell was broken. 

These line a path from my apartment to a trail system that runs down the whole county. This trail is the reason I’ve lived in this apartment for seven years, and I love having these woods just outside my apartment. I’ve prayed out here, done yoga, climbed, daydreamed about the Wee One, and bring her here every day.

Xochicalco, Mexico. I was taking a class there one we and we had just visited the pre-Colombian archeological site there. After eating lunch in the parking lot of the visitor’s center, we realized this tree was awesome for climbing.

That’s me on the far left.  I love climbing trees, though I don’t have much opportunity to do it on my adult life.