The Multicolored Mane - Day 3

I am learning to do what I said I would do. LAMSTAIH. Look-At-More-Stuff, Think-About-It-Harder. This afternoon, I was exhausted. We had an awesome morning of worship at PCC, I had lunch with my dad and my sister, and by 3:30pm, I wanted to crash.

However, I was determined to make some real progress on this project, so instead of curling up with the cat for a Sunday afternoon nap, I decided to think about what inspires me. Don't worry...I have not prepared another list. My immediate thought was the tree in my back yard. LAMSTAIH. I stepped outside with my camera, my crayons and some paper, and I went to work. Take a look at this magnificent thing that sits just outside my back door.

Here's what I learned about my tree today:

• It's a Willow Oak. Some would call it a Pin Oak due to its leaves, but I believe that is incorrect.
• It's over 100 years old. While the only true way to determine the age of a tree is to cut it down and count its rings, you can also get a rough estimate by measuring the circumference of the tree and doing some calculations based on a growth rate. So, what the heck. I did it. The exact number was 126, so for rounding purposes, I'll just say it's over 100.

I sat for over an hour, just studying and thinking about this tree. What has it seen? If it's truly over 100 years old, what was standing here in the early 1900s? Here sits this source of life, beauty, shelter; but has it ever caused pain? Branches fall. Some have already fallen in the year that we've lived here. How many different people in different stages of their lives have sat with this tree?

I decided to draw a tree. I'd say I drew my backyard tree, but I am not an artist and I'm not that talented. Mine looks more like a palm tree. Nevertheless, I created it today and I will not be ashamed (no laughing):

As I was looking at and thinking about this tree, it crossed my mind that this had absolutely nothing to do with any of the goals I listed yesterday. And then it came to me. There are so many beautiful things right within my grasp. Why not take pictures and see if I can create some art for my office? I was off and running. Here's one of my favorites from today. I am no photographer. However, my office will be very personal to me, so I just might hang this up. I'm on my way to meeting at least one of my goals. LAMSTAIH worked. Today was a good day!