Miscellaneous Monday - Seeing the forest for the trees
Right now there is a great initiative that @Monique vdB has brought to the Atlassian Community. It's a push to plant 30,000 trees based on the user engagement in the community during the month of July. For every piece of content liked, a tree will be planted, and all users that participate qualify for a special edition community badge. You can read all about it in Monique's post here.
During a brain break I was thinking about what 30,000 trees looks like. As an avid hiker, I have been in dense forests - but have I ever tried to count the number of trees? If I did, how long would it take to actually see 30,000 trees? But what really startled me was the idiom that popped in my head - would I be able to see the forest for the trees?
The meaning of the idiom is simple - we often get so bogged down in the detail (each individual tree) we don't see the bigger picture (the forest). Would I literally miss the forest for the trees???
Well, I am a believer in being an individual, so I'd like to focus on the trees during this Miscellaneous Monday post. After all, each community like is needed to get to the 30,000 trees.
So here it is. Let's all share a picture of our favorite trees. The Arbor Day Foundation has a great database of tree information that you can use to identify and post a picture of your favorite tree. Or you can post a picture of a tree you love from your yard, neighborhood, childhood, favorite TV show (who will be posting a Weirwood tree?), or any tree that makes you happy. Bonus if you explain why in your post.
I can't wait to see our forest form from the individual trees posted!
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boab_Prison_Tree,_Derby in NW Australia. I visited as a young man and it always stuck in my mind. So odd!
We have jacaranda trees here and they are always beautiful, but when I visited Australia, they were really jaw dropping! This is not my picture but still gives you an idea of these gorgeous purple trees.
Also being from California I feel VERY FORTUNATE that the trees in front of our house actually CHANGE COLORS in the fall! (Very rare here.) These are Chinese Pistache trees and they make our street so lovely.
I think that I shall never see
A poem lovely as a tree... Joyce Kilmer
It is hard to beat Muir Woods.
@Andy Gladstone and @Jack Brickey I love Muir Woods! I recently did a little solo staycation in Fort Bragg and on the way to the coast, drove through some coastal redwoods in Mendocino county.... truly magnificent. I pulled over to take a picture, hard to capture the majesty of these trees!
I personally love Golden Aspen trees. I try to go up to northern AZ every year to see the Aspens and just love the jaw dropping colors! My favorite place to go is in Flagstaff at Lockett Meadow. It requires a treacherous drive up a mountain on a one lane road and a medium difficulty hike, but it is so worth it! Here is a pic from the internet and a pic of my own.
The house I grew up in had one of these in the garden. My first cat and I took naps under it, the family ate the fruit, I climbed, and fell out of it, many many times, and and and...
But I have a soft-spot for the trees in:
I think the trees have been replanted because my memory says they were a lot taller and taking over the drive, so no surprise if they were felled and saplings planted. I'm old enough that they've had enough time to grow to this size! I met my first girlfriend under one of them.
In third place is
I can't find any evidence beyond "it is said to be the tree that ...", but I've been to see it a few times. It's an apple tree. In the background is Woolsthorpe Manor. If the claim is true, then tree is at least 360 years old (due to one of the big news events of 1666)
I took this when I was taking a walk down to the Boardwalk in Santa Cruz. I was in love with PALM TREES the entire time I lived in California! All I see is summertime hope and livelihood when I come across any.
This was one of the big tree's i had witnessed in Agumbe forests. Not a good click but the trees trunk says it all.
I actually love tropical palm trees (I know, boring, right! LOL).
One reason is that these trees will bend and contort themselves chasing the sun, they dont let anything prevent them from seeing the sun. This reminds me constantly how I need to strive to do the same within a work environment, when on projects, or even in my own personal life.
Another reason is that during a hurricane or other strong storm, these trees will bend (extensively), but normally do not break under the constant pressure put on them by the high winds. This reminds me to always be flexible, so as to not allow anything to "break" me.
All northern Labrador we did a road trip there about 5 years ago. I would recommend it, but not for anyone driving a low riding vehicle the roads are no paved ... roads ha road there's only one. The tracks you see in the sand, those are not human or man made ... We didn't stay too long.
It really is like no other place.
Another cool thing about Labrador is the amount of wild blueberries that grow, they are everywhere. Stop the car for a rest, pick some berries no need to look for them they are at your feet.
It's not a tree but I heard they like trees :)
Ancient cedar trees in BC.
Love the beautiful cedars in BC 
Here's a rainforest:
Oregon has paper tree farms where everything is planted in perfect lines and trimmed similarly creating a really cool look. It can also be really scary when you are in the middle of one of the forests and everything looks the same, especially at night.
@Brant Schroeder wow that is really cool, and a bit eerie for sure! Reminds me of the Crooked Forest in Poland, have you seen it?
I grew up with a Catalpa tree in my yard. It was odd because it would fruit these long, spindly pods, that when they fell would always leave such a mess. The pod was shaped like a bean pod, but the shell was very wooden, or bark-like. It was kind of strange to me because I don't recall seeing other trees that did that. I thought it was somewhat uncommon and it stood out a bit. It's too bad we lost it in a bad storm. Our tree was over 80 years old and much taller than this pictured example. It was easily over 50 feet in height.
Image source Wikimedia, image taken by Mark Wagner.
The cherry blossoms at University of Washington have to be up there... right @LisaSeattle ?!
Toronto - High Park - Cherry Blossoms
Trees are a very grateful subject for creative photography. In Belgium, close to Brussels, we have the Hallerbos, where every spring there is a blue wave of blossoming hyacinths beneath the trees. For a couple of days it turns into "the" photographer's hotspot
Because of the beautiful contrast in colours and the way the light plays amidst the stems, it is also a great place for creative, abstract photography. With a slightly longer exposure time and moving your camera deliberately up- or downwards, one can shoot moving trees like these ...
Great fun, and you never know up front what the result will look like 📷
@Walter Buggenhout wow! I hope you have some of these on your wall, they are gorgeous. That top one is such an amazing vibe.
Speaking of amazing vibes I can't believe I haven't dropped any Edward and Bella in this thread yet.
I feel like I never really stopped to think about how many different types of trees there are in the world until this thread. We haven't even talked about bonsai trees!
I cannot shake this association whenever I see a Bonsai Tree! Thanks for the memory recall @Monique vdB!
Big, beautiful gum in Colo Valley, New South Wales.
It's so hard to have a favorite tree when they are all so beautiful in their own special ways!
I do love the majestic beauty of Japanese Maples! Their beautiful, deep reddish-purple color in Spring & Summer, changing to equally beautiful reds, oranges, yellows in the Fall.
Maples in autumn are nature's fireworks!
The Pines.
This is in the highlands of Cape Breton Island
Cabinet Mountains is great mix of trees and a beautiful place to hike. I love going there the only issue is Grizzley Bears, they are the only thing that scares me in the wilderness.
