MEET A SPECIAL FRIEND OF MINE

I am fortunate to live close by to beautiful Beltzville State Park, complete with a very large lake.  It affords me SO MANY fun and interesting things to do.  There are quite a few access points to the park and each one has its own unique features.  One of my favorites leads to a less popular side of the lake, where years ago, I met a very special tree that I would like you to meet.

My friend lives on the very edge of the water in a secluded section of the lake.  I have visited in every season, talking, singing and occasionally regaling it with poetry.  My tree has provided me with both a comfortable place to sit and swing my legs and a cozy spot to curl up against its solid trunk with a good book or pen and paper for writing. 

 

I have been present to witness the unfurling of its leaves in the Spring, and seen the very last of those delightful golden beauties drift gently down to the ground in the Fall.  It has offered me a shady oasis on many a hot Summer's day. We have even seen each other once in a while in the dead of Winter when the road wasn't closed due to snow and ice and the level in the lake was low enough to get through without wading in the  frigid water.

Whenever we visit, I like to see what I can find along the waters edge to decorate the tree with, to honor my old friend. Sometimes I even bring dried flowers from home as an extra adornment. We got together just last week on a very mild day.  There wasn't much to choose from this time around, but I was able to find a few offerings just the same.

The lake is filled with freshwater clams and I found many more of their empty shells than usual since the water level was still very low from the long, dry Summer.  I thought they looked really pretty spread out along the branches.

I also tucked a few shells in some of the crevices along with little pieces of blue string I gathered along the way.

A very interesting, shiny rock and a thick piece of birch bark offered to be part of the decorations too.

There was a length of cotton rope just the right size for a garland and two pieces of rounded black birch bark that hung from it perfectly, like bracelets, a bunch of pine cones for the crotch on the right and an interesting  piece of driftwood with a face on it, on the left. 

There were a handful of bird feathers and some empty seed pods to place in a small hollow in the center there and that definitely helped to round things out.  All in all it's not a bad attempt but I will have to return one day before Winter sets in, to adorn my special tree friend with some of my dried flowers.

I hope you enjoyed meeting this special friend of mine.  I will have to take more pictures throughout the seasons to share with you.  It really is a most lovely tree, especially when in full glorious leaf.