Ladies in the sky

As a biologist, sometimes I think I know enough about trees to understand them. I know these grand ladies have leaves and branches and xylem and phloem and roots that sink into the soul of the Earth. I understand photosynthesis and how trees give us life through sharing their circulation of gases with us.
What I don't understand sometimes is how the ladies in the sky survive year after year without someone tending to them. We worship to our roses, pluck pests off our tomatoes and mow the grass into neat little rows. But the trees are just there, doing their thing for us day after day. Of course, these ladies are also engaging habitats for the birds providing nooks, crannies and hollows for nests. They stretch their high wire branches just close enough so the squirrels can leap to safety. At the same time, some insects are chewing at her center, and yet she proudly stands. They shake, creak, and groan even bowing down to the ground in a grand curtsy to the wind.
Here is a poem about trees, that seemed to fit my thoughts on trees.

Think Like a Tree

by Karen I. Shragg

Soak up the sun
Affirm life's magic
Be graceful in the wind
Stand tall after a storm
Feel refreshed after it rains
Grow strong without notice
Be prepared for each season
Provide shelter to strangers
Hang tough through a cold spell
Emerge renewed at the first signs of spring
Stay deeply rooted while reaching for the sky
Be still long enough to
hear your own leaves rustling.

Pictures were taken in Livermore, CA at a winery.