Not far from my house stands a tree with a face on it. Every time we drive past it, Abby squeals, “Tree face!” from the backseat. Every single time. By my count, that’s 949 times to date, give or take a squeal.
Pictured below is batgirl with “Tree face!” two Halloweens ago. (An exclamation point seems appropriate here because that’s how I say it now too.) She’s smiling because:
a) I didn’t make her wear a princess costume.
b) She doesn’t realize I’m going to take a share of her Halloween bounty afterwards.
and
c) It’s impossible not to smile when you see that tree face.
But what I like even better than my neighborhood tree face is a naturally occurring tree face…or three. I’ve started a photo collection of naturally occuring tree faces observed while hiking. One is more obvious than the other two. You might have to use the childhood eyes that let you turn cumulus clouds into snowmen and fire-breathing dragons to see faces in the other two.
Here is the obvious one. Eyes, nose, mouth. Definite face.
This one looks like an alligator face to me…sort of. I definitely see an eye and a mouth ready to chomp.
I encountered the tree pictured below while hiking at Camp Judy Layne in eastern Kentucky with my friend, Raccoon, a couple of summers ago. You might need your cumulus cloud vision for this one. I spy one eye, a bulbous nose, a set of lips, and a prominent chin. A deciduous Karl Malden if ever I saw one.
This morning will bring the 950th “Tree face!” squeal for Abby. And this weekend, if I’m lucky, will bring another naturally-occurring tree face discovery.
Thank you for making me smile, today.
Happily!
I. LOVE. THIS. (and it makes me feel so much less weird about our family traditions.)
We have “Cloud Pig!” in our family, even though the toddler who invented the game no longer calls ALL animals “pig.” I look forward to more “Tree face!” posts with pics
A goat who sees pigs in the sky– I love it!
Karl Malden? You are not old enough to make that reference!!!
Great post, in spite of making cultural references outside of your era. – Tim
Hey, it’s not like I referred to Jimmy Durante. Now that would have been outside my era
.
I do believe the first and last Tree Faces are really Ents. They’re just currently resting, or in long, ponderous thought.
I also love Abby’s Batgirl. I love that you don’t dress her as a Princess or in other stereotypical girly costumes if she doesn’t want to. That, my friend, just proves what an awesome mom you really are!
Ents– you nailed it! Why didn’t I think of that? (Or it proves how insanely stubborn she is against anything girly like princess costumes, ribbons, or Barbie…which I am completely fine with.)
Such amazing trees and observations! I’d be happy if I drove by a smiling tree everyday too.
Hot tea, checking emails, smiling trees…all good ways to start a day.
I totally see the alligator. TOTALLY.
The last one reminds me more of Marjorie, The Great and Powerful TRASH HEAP!!! from Fraggle Rock. Of course, one could say that she looked like Karl Malden, so I guess that does come back full circle.
If I recall correctly, Fraggle Rock was on the Disney Channel when I was a kid, so I never got to watch it. I remember watching a cartoon version later, but I know it couldn’t be the same. I should check it out from the library for Abby and me. I bet she (and I!) would get a kick out of it.
I always love it when people prove that imagination trumps consensus reality. I suppose they COULD just be trees, but isn’t the world better if they’re also faces?
Yes, it is. Yes it is.
That made me smile.
Mission accomplished.
Fraggle Rock was on HBO. I only got to see it once in a while at the neighbor’s, or at school if it was a movie day and the teacher taped it.