The elm tree

This old tree had stood the test of time.
I stood underneath it in my youth every morning waiting for the bus. An old friend.
An English elm, magnificent in the autumn

Notice too the War Memorial
The lads mentioned there fell in the First World War Every family in the village was affected. They were sixteen to eighteen. The same age as I was when I was I stood under the tree.. They would have known this tree in their youth, before they were mown down in France, so unnecessarily.

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cherokeepatti · 61-69, F

I understand how you feel about that tree. On the farm we had a large maple tree in our front yard. We had a swing set under it to be shaded in the summer. We’d have barbecues in the front yard with those nice metal lawns chairs and a wading pool to splash around in. When the maple tree started changing colors in the fall it was so beautiful. And in the spring when the tree started dropping the winged seeds we would gather them and squeeze the seeds out at each other. Found out a few years ago that the seeds can be consumed. Sad that we cut down the silver maple tree in the back yard a few years ago due to ice storms and the threat that it might get overloaded with ice and fall over on the neighbor’s property. They might have been really good.