It is one of those perfect summer mornings—the air cool and brimming with sunlight—and the tree is full of song.
Last night we went to a Village Harmony concert in Norwich (these concerts are exceptionally beautiful, and not to be missed if they come anywhere near you). Afterwards we hosted Claire, three other teens (Anna, Asa, and Zac), and one of the teachers (Avery) at our house. Several of them had caught wind of my tree-climbing practice and were interested in checking out the tree, so early this morning, before breakfast, the six of us head out barefoot through the dew on the grass and make our way into the lower branches of the tree.
You couldn’t ask for a better morning for six people to congregate in a tree. Dappled sunlight is playing through the branches, birdsong hangs in the air, the world is bountiful and endlessly green. The tree is doing its whole branching thing even more magnificently than usual. And, best of all, once everyone finds a perch, they break into song—a remarkable achievement given that they are teenagers up painfully early on little sleep!
What a joy! And a whole heap of fun, too. It is hard to describe how profoundly right it feels for people to be singing in a tree. Like this is what the music was meant for, like this is the perfect way to be in a tree, like no summer morning could offer more.
Thank you, Claire, Anna, Asa, Zac, and Avery!
[If these videos don’t play well on my site they can be accessed directly on Vimeo at TreeSong 1 and TreeSong 2.]
