RANDOM PHOTO AND A POEM

I Love A Tree

When I pass to my reward

Whenever that may be,

I'd like my friends to think of me

As one who loved a tree.

I may not have a statesman's poise,

Nor thrill a throng with speech,

But I may benefit mankind

If I set out a beech.

If I transport a sapling oak

To rear its mighty head.

Twill make for them a childhood shrine,

That will not soon decay.

Or if I plant a tree with fruit

On which the birds may feed,

Then I have fostered feathered friends

And that's a worthy deed.

For winter when the days grow short

And spirits may run low,

I'd plant a pine upon the scape

T'would lend a cheery glow.

I'd like a tree to mark the spot

Where I am laid to rest

For that would be the epitaph

That I would like the best.

Tho it's not carved upon a stone

For those who come to see,

But friends would know that resting there

Is he, who loved a tree.

~Samuel N. Baxter~