Just a thought.............

A few years ago I took a photography class at the local Community College. One class period we went to the exhibit in the library to examine some of Ansel Adams pictures. We were to write a
composition about the feelings we got from one of the pictures. This is what I wrote:
My favorite picture in the exhibit in the library was the one of the huge stone nestled next to a magnificient, very large tree with it's massive roots flexing like muscles over the ground.
As I looked at this photo I felt I was looking at two old friends and I listened to the whispers of the wind as they compared notes on the weather patterns of their long lives and each bragged of their ancestry. Who had contributed the most to mankind and civilization?
Since time began men have used these two entities to survive and build their lives with. Caves in rocks safe from weather and wild animals, stone utensils and weapons are still in existence to testify of the early beginnings. Homes, monuments, burial sights, churches, castles with great walls to protect them were shaped from stones of many kinds and forms. Many, many of these are still around to testify of their ever lasting endurance.
As I trvel around the world I look and wonder at the great accomplishments with the use of stone in people's lives. The Sphinx of Egypt, the Great Wall of China, The Forum and
aqueducts of Rome, huge walled castles, elaborate churches and the complete city of Pompei,
which was buried but still survived to tell us of it's culture in stone. In Mexico and South America the huge temple ruins with their cobblestone court yeards and in our own country the homes of the ancient Indian cultures of old.
What is the mystery and strengths of stone? At birth we are assigned a birthstone for
our month. At death they place a stone marker on our grave with our name and years of life,
to last into eternity.
Now the tree in turn whispers of it's contributions. It can be used for fires to warm us,
and cook our food. The many forms of wood give us homes to protect us from the Sun nd rain. Before metal it was popular in being formed into vehicles of transportation like wagons and boats.
It's pulp can be made into paper to preserve art and historical records for us, much
easier to use than the rock, which also claims this use. Some family members of this great tree produce fruit, used by humans and animals as food. Under the big tree we can find shade from the sun and protection from the rain without having to cut it into wood. In the jungle, families of this tree give interesting new medical help. Yes, this tree has many interesting stories to tell.
I guess when I look at these giant friends I see more than just a rock and a tree. I feel their power and influence in my life.......and what good friends they have been to me.
To one..........Sun, wind and water is a must,
To the other............Sun, wind and water, it can't trust,
Poems are made by fools like me,
But only God can make a tree.........or a rock!