Hugging Trees

I've been hugging trees lately, when the smoke has thinned enough for me to be outside.

Redwood, Medford, OR

I've hugged twelve trees so far (sixty-three to go). My sister Laura, who suggested this item, said it would remind me of how much I love trees. And so it does.

I've also added two poems to the goal of 75, and fourteen prayers for the earth or humanity. Here are four prayers, a poem of 75 words about the 75 x 75 project, and some pictures of the trees I've been hugging.

#14-17 of 75 prayers
May the songbirds fill the woods and meadows as of old.
May the owls meet in parliaments outside my bedroom window for years to come.
May the smoke clear and the skies be blue again (soon).
May the voice of reason and the aura of compassion prevail.



How Big Is 75?

75 is a big number
if I'm hiking 75 miles
or planting 75 daffodil bulbs
or hugging 75 trees.
It's a little number
for 75 minutes of massage
or giving 75 compliments.
If I'm eating 75 blueberries for breakfast,
it's an adequate number,
but it's an inadequate number
if I'm picking up 75 pieces of trash
or listing family memories.
75 is just a beginning
for making 75 prayers for the earth
or doing
75
good deeds.

Redwood tree, Medford, OR

Walnut tree, Ashland, OR

Cottonwood, near my home

Broad-leaf maple, at my house