A Tree in the Forest

I guess today I am mourning an old friend. The high point of every ride for me at the Versailles State Park was a massive hardwood on the B loop. A tree so big that it must have been over 200 years old. Strangely...I felt almost an affection for that tree, always looking forward to coming upon that bend in the trail so that I could admire this living thing that has lived longer than I, longer than my parents, longer even than my great grandparents. It stood strong probably in the Civil War era, roots reaching into the earth, leaves reaching upward into a perfect sky. My tree is no more, as the winds of Hurricane Ike came across the southern edge of Indiana, and uprooted this monument of life, now lying prone on the ground. If a tree falls in the forest, and no one is there to hear it, does it make a sound? Yes, my friends, it does. The sound echos in the hearts of horseman who looked at its beauty from the back of a horse. As it brought awe to me then, it brings sadness to me now, the loss of this beautiful thing. ~Endurance Granny