The Photo a Day prompt yesterday was “my favourite tree” and I saw it and thought “Who has a favourite tree?” and then started to think about it. I do actually.
For almost all of the different places we have lived I can recall a favourite tree. One we revisited often and admired through all the seasons and whenever we return have to go check on.
The first to come to mind was that wonderful Ginko tree in Hiroshima. It was huge and a very busy main road veered around it, so a traffic island was made for it. Resplendent in a dense coverage of yellow autumn hues we would sometimes ride our bikes there just to check on it.
Suddenly, I remembered the enormous mango tree in Rangjung, which we were so disappointed to discover was no longer standing this year, when we were able to visit. Oh, how we loved seeing it laden with fruit or walking by without having even glanced at it, only to hear some grade four kid, from Ian’s class, calling “Sir, sir sir,” from the branches and scurrying down the trunk to present us with some of the many mangoes he and his mates were surreptitiously collecting in the huge pockets of their Ghos. That tree was public property and everyone enjoyed its fruit and the shade it provided at kuru matches. We didn’t ask about what had happened to it but it obviously wasn’t development that caused its demise.
Then I recalled the ancient cypress tree in Jinci Park in Taiyuan, China, our first ever overseas appointment, and how we battled traffic and coal dust riding our bikes to get to the park and admire its huge expanse and then explore the 1,400 year old temples and picnic in the shade with other expats when the park was completely rundown and at its most attractive to my mind.
In Kep, it was the aptly named and labeled ‘Incredible Tree’ in the National Park that lured us back to walk the trail again and again never stopping before that point and turning back because that would mean missing the highlight. Often we were carrying a picnic lunch to have at the pond further along the trail and with friends.
In Dali, China, the big old tree by Er Hai Lake that was the centre piece of a small square, was certainly a favourite. That tree, which may have been a Banyan but I can’t say for certain, was surrounded by a circular, concrete bench at the base and old men gathered to smoke their pipes, women sat gossiping in the shade on lunch breaks from working in the bean fields and children played the sunshine. The small shop windows of houses, fronting it provided local tobacco, snacks, glasses of tea and warm soft drinks. It often inspired us to take the long walk to the lake front which we soon discovered could also be accomplished on bikes.
For Adelaide, it is the massive Morton Bay Fig at the end of this fig lined avenue, in the Botanic Gardens. That tree has been the site of many a photo shoot over the decades, including the day we were married. Never once have we visited or even walked through the gardens, without going by to check on it.
Recently while living in Thimphu we fell in love with an enormous cypress in the grounds of the Pangrizampa Buddhist Astrology School. The entire grounds are truly spectacular and we returned there several times to enjoy the serenity and lush gardens and gorgeous mountain views, to say nothing of the delightful interactions with monks, young and old, but for us it was the tree that was the real treasure.
Here in Phnom Penh? The jury is still out about which tree might be our favourite but there are many we do love. This heart shaped tree in a very special friend’s beautiful garden is the red hot favourite. Unfortunately, the lack of extensive green spaces is one of the few things about this amazing city that saddens me.
So, do we have one truly special tree for everywhere we have lived? ….. I wonder.
