The Tree

 

Tree woke up after a long sleep.  “The day is here she thought excitedly.”  She stretched her limbs and shook the morning dew off of her branches. (Illustration)    It seemed like it had only been a few moments since her leaves had fallen to the ground.  Really she had been sleeping for several months.  It had been a good Winter.  She slept well, cozy under the blanket of snow that kept her roots warm and safe during her slumber. (Illustration)

Tree wiped the sleep from her eyes and looked around. Rain had been here last night.  She  thought she had heard him playing his music. The soft drumming  of his drops hitting the ground, comforted her in her dreams. (Illustration)  As she looked around, she could see that Grass had been thirsty.  Grass took a long drink of the water Rain provided and stood tall.  (Illustration) 

Tree was excited to know that she would be able to share  the next few weeks spending time with her friends, Sun and Rain making beautiful leaves of green to clothe her bare branches.  (Illustration)

As if on cue, Sun winked at her from the place where the sky meets the ground. She smiled at him.  She was so glad to see Sun.  (Illustration)

Tree had missed the big warm hugs that Sun shared when he was around .  Sun warmed Tree. Sun warmed everyone he encountered.  (Illustration)

When Sun was around, the flowers came out of the ground.  When Sun was around, the animals all came out to play.  The bees buzzed happily when sharing the sweetness of the new flowers.  When Sun was around, even the people seemed happier.  They came out of their box homes and spent time together.  (Illustration)

 Tree enjoyed watching the people.  They were so interesting.  Sometime Sun wished she could run freely as they did.  She imagined the things she could see as they moved from place to place.  She loved how they could change their clothes whenever they wanted to – somedays they would have red ones, other days, yellow or blue or green. (Illustration) Trees leaves could change too but only with the passage of time. In the Spring time, after she woke up, her leaves came back slowly and they were always green. They were light green at first, tender and young.  (Illustration)  Tree usually woke up from her Winters sleep thirsty When she got too thirsty, her leaves would become sad and droopy.  They would not have the strength to lift themselves.(Illustration)  .  She didn’t have to worry though,  Rain came often in the Spring.  He would pour his water down to the ground so Tree could drink it.  

During Summer Trees leaves were a deep green. That was because during Summer,  Sun came out to play more often and for longer periods of time. Days were longer in Summer.  Tree’s leaves loved it when Sun was around because they were full of a special thing called Chlorophyll.  Chlorophyll took in the energy from Sun and made it into special tree food called “phytonutrients”  which helped Tree to grow big and strong (illustration).

The bigger Tree got, the more people seemed to love to be around her.  Children climbed on her branches, laughing and smiling. (illustration) The big people set blankets under her and enjoyed picnics in the shade. (illustration). This year was extra special as one person hung a swing from her strongest branch and all of the people took turns swinging in the peaceful shade of Tree.  (Illustration)

As the year went by, Sun went to bed earlier and earlier and Tree knew she needed to save her food so she could survive when Winter came.  So she used less of the special phytonutrients to get herself through the day.  As she ate less, her leaves began to change color.  They went from a deep green, to vibrant yellow, orange and red.  She was beautiful (Illustration).  The people came from all over to take pictures with her and her vibrant coat of leaves.  (Illustration)

Tree knew though that the change in the color of her leaves meant that Winter would be there soon.  The days were getting shorter and her friend Sun was not be around as much to help her create food.  So she stored her food away even more so that she would have enough to feed her through the cold months. She knew that soon her leaves would begin to drop off of her branches. 

And she was right. (Illustration)

As the last of her leaves fell to the ground, Tree looked around noticing that Winter brought about a change for many.  The people spent much more time in the warmth of their little box houses. (Illustration) The birds flew South, where Sun was spending more of his time (Illustration) and many of the animals began the long sleep, called hibernation, which allowed them to survive the months when food was scarce.  Bears and squirrels and groundhogs did this (Illustration), and she realized so did she.  Tree knew that as the snows began to fall, cloaking her roots in a blanket of warmth, she would fall asleep until Sun returned in the Spring. (Illustration)

And she did. (Illustration)

As she closed her eyes and settled into slumber, she felt so good to know that when she awoke, she would be reunited with all of her friends, to begin a whole new season of adventure. (Illustration)