January 23, 2020- Thursday Thoughts - If Only Its Trees Could Talk

If Only Its Trees Could Talk

They would say such things as
Remember that time
You started running
Then minutes later
You twisted your ankle
Thought you were tough enough
To keep going
Then a little bit later you twisted it again
Bet that hurt a little bit
Or a lot
Yeah, that was wise, guy

Or
Remember that time
You tried to jump
That part of a tree

That had fallen
In the middle of a trail
How did that go for you
It did not go as planned, did it
Yeah, that's what I thought

Or
Remember that time
It was almost pitch black
You thought it was really cool
Since you had a helmet light
You rode and jumped
You thought you would leave our forest unscathed
We still have no clue
As to how you made it out
Without a scratch
Yeah, don't do that again

Or
Remember that time
You were running
There was a light rain
You thought it would be okay
If you kept on running
You probably should have rethought that one
You and that poor pup were soaked
Yeah, check the weather forecast more than once a month

Or
Remember that time
You were running
The wolves at the zoo started howling
It was not a full moon
Or was it sunset
You just keep on runn-ing
Like that Gump guy
Too bad
You did not check the weather radar
You were in our forest, again
You were running scared
There was lightning
There was a tree that fell behind you
You just kept on runn-ing
You could have been blown away
Yeah, maybe you have grown wiser

Or
Remember that time
You were on your bike
You were really havin' a grand 'ole time
You almost hit us
Head on
You probably ride your bike
Better than you drive
Your car
Yeah, we did scratch you up just a tad with your branches
Yeah, you have done alright

Or
Remember that time
You were running
You were doing your little "holiday run"
It was Labor Day
That is not a day for running
That is a day for relaxing
You were caught off guard
You had a first in our forest
You saw one of the copperheads
You almost came back to see
If it was alive or not
Yeah, that would have been stupid

Or
Remember those times
You were walking some doggies
They were happy
You were happy
You were not being stupid
All was well with the world
You were just enjoying
Our beautiful trails
Being at peace
With four leggeds
That were happy

Happy to be in our forest
Wanting to chase our squirrels
Willingly posing for cute pictures
Loving our forest
That is our job
To bring peace

To all of the two legged and four leggeds
Peace from the hustle and bustle
Of that city life
That exists too close
To our forest
Yeah, you have graced us with a ton of memories.





FYI - That is not the tree that I once tried to jump. It was a little bit smaller than that. 

Overton Park's Old Forestis the only old-growth forest in the Southeast to be located in an urban environment. An ecosystem dating back more than 10,000 years, it is both a glimpse into the past and a living indication of how humans impact our environment in the present. (credit to the Overton Park Convervancy for this information.  Overton Park Old Forest