I'm Itching Like a Man on a Fuzzy Tree

Trees. Yet another thing I am unaccustomed to seeing that are now part of my life in Memphis. It's taking me awhile to adjust to the fact that there is an enormous tree outside my window that actually does the job of blocking sunlight from the building. It's strange to me that, at 2 in the afternoon with two West-facing windows, I can not function solely from natural light like I could in Texas. I can achieve true darkness in my apartment, which is pretty cool....but surprisingly hard to adjust to.

I knew that Tennessee had trees before coming here, obviously. The world pretty much turns green at the Texarkana border(ish). I was pretty excited about the change in scenery, as I've always held trees in such high regard (because of their rarity where I've lived). I know that while staying at my parents' house this summer, we would celebrate the growth of our back yard trees like we would celebrate the growth of a human child..."I can't believe how much it's grown!" My brother and I chatted frequently about how much we preferred our neighborhood to the new ones because of the size of the trees (small compared to Tennessee trees, but pretty good size for north Texas trees).

I'm told that, now that I live in a state with four seasons, I should really be looking forward to autumn and the colors of the leaves, which I am. I'll probably have another tree blog post for that with pictures or something when the time comes. But, even in the blaze of summer, the trees here are incredibly beautiful.

I couldn't help but to giggle when I saw a commercial the other day for something called "The Tree Firm." I understand the need for such a service, but it's a pretty foreign concept to me that it would be necessary enough to dedicate an entire business to tree trimming and removal. Where I'm from, the regular landscaping people just do it. But I guess with the larger quantity comes a larger demand. Still, it took me a second to remember that people HERE are not clinically insane for cutting down their trees. Ha!

One thing I do miss, though, are the big skies of Texas. I used to make fun of the flat, brown, dusty landscapes of Lubbock and West Texas while I was living there...yet that's probably what I miss the most. There's nothing quite like the red-brown canyons and the mesquite bushes...or being able to see for days in any direction. That's the thing about trees...they block the view, even though they make another kind of nice view themselves.

So, tonight as storms roll through the area, I hopped out of bed to write this quick note about how trees have changed my life. Where I would be, in Texas, standing or sitting out on my porch watching lightning scorch across the sky for miles, I look out a rain-splattered window into thick foliage. For some cool Texas lightning pictures taken by some friends of mine, please see the following websites. If you know some good places for watching storms in Memphis, feel free to drop a comment. ;)

In the Frame

Tif Holmes Photography
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