Inspired by Scholastica

Hugging Trees

Did you ever hug a tree?  Considering their value and beauty, we ought to promote tree hugging.  They provide oxygen to keep us alive and filter the poisons out of the air. They also purify our water and provide food for animals and humans.  In addition, they also provide homes for animals, wood for making houses, and shade on hot summer days.

I’m sure the first farmers, fishermen, and lumbermen planted trees to provide for their livelihoods.  When they cut down too many trees, they found that they upset the balance of nature, and many trees died. Trees are essential to life, and I don’t think we could ever have too many.

In the Amazon Rain Forest in South America, companies are cutting down trees and ruining the natives’ source of food and homes for the variety of animals that live there. The rain forest also provides 20 percent of the world’s oxygen and has the most biodiversity in the world. More than three million species of animals live In the Amazon, which is the largest rainforest in the world. It contains over 2,500 species of trees.

 I grew up in the inner city, so I did not have many trees around. I didn’t know the names or understand the necessity of trees. Now that I have grown up on land with a variety of trees and can watch them change with the seasons, I have grown in my appreciation of trees. I have read many poems about the beauty of trees, especially ”When I Am Among the Trees” by Mary Oliver and “Trees” by Joyce Kilmer.

I may yet try hugging a tree.  

Barbara Mayer