The inaugural Tuesday Tree
As promised to a number of readers, here, with a small flourish of trumpets, is a Tree for Tuesday. It is nothing especially dramatic – a beech tree photographed yesterday in flat grey light in the rain – but it is one of my favourite trees here at Castle Beastie.
I love beeches in every season. At this time of year one can appreciate their smooth grey bark and their graceful, sweeping branches. They seem to have been favourites of Professor J. R. R. Tolkien, lover of the countryside in general and of trees in particular, too: apparently he based his silver-grey, golden-leaved ‘mallorn’ trees, which grew in the Elven heartland of Lothlorien in The Lord of The Rings, upon the beech. This one has, as you can see, one massive limb that sticks out at a quirky angle before changing its mind and lunging upward. It has no especial beauty, beyond the general beauty of its species, but it has individuality. It grows close to the house, so I see it every day, in every light and mood, which is probably another reason for its being a favourite. It will probably feature again in tree posts. Anyway, Sian and anyone else on a windswept island, this one is for you!
Dancing Beastie 
Oh the majestic beauty of trees!
Have now signed up for Dancing beastie posts by email to make sure I don’t miss them in future. in the meantime, having a thoroughly enjoyable time catching up.
I feel very honoured. Thank you.
OOooh thank you. That is a magnificent specimen! I love the way the roots are bracing the tree against the hillside. Beautiful- thanks!
Glad you like it!
Oh, beeches are so beautiful! And you can look at yours from the windows. Lovely. And when the leaves start to come out it is such a wonderful green colour! More spring than that is hard to find I guess.
Lovely, we are tree fans in this family!
So you look on the site “icanhascheezburger.com” too. I also think it is very funny/silly and I am enjoying it very much sometimes. However, the picture I showed today seemed to have caused confusion among the blogreaders, except for a few. Like you for an example! The expression in the cat’s eyes is so fun!
Love,
Agneta
Yes, I will certainly show the beech trees again in their beautiful spring green; I absolutely love it. You are right, it is ‘more spring’ than anything. You and I are lucky to live close to forests, I think.
I cannot really imagine a world without trees.
I once moved out of an apartment building when they cut down all the trees whose roots were invading the foundation and uprooting the parking lot. It was necessary, but so sad and desolate feeling after that.
Like the Joni Mitchell song, ‘Razed Paradise…’. Urban environments without trees shrivel the soul, I think. Guerilla gardening is a brilliant idea which I applaud. Once, I spent an unhappy year working in the Square Mile (City of London), where people wearing grey suits walked along grey pavements past grey buildings to their important grey offices. I used to escape down to the Thames at lunchtime and lean on the grey concrete parapet looking at the grey river (is there a theme developing?), with the occasional dingy gull the only sign of natural life in the area. A move to a job in Mayfair brought me the ancient dusty plane trees of Berkeley Square, which seemed close to heaven by contrast. Don’t think I was cut out to be a city girl!
Lovely! I look forward to every Tuesday.