I think that I shall never see...

...A poem lovely as a tree. A tree whose hungry mouth is prest Against the sweet earth's flowing breast; A tree that looks at God all day, And lifts her leafy arms to pray; A tree that may in summer wear A nest of robins in her hair; Upon whose bosom snow has lain; Who intimately lives with rain. Poems are made by fools like me, But only God can make a tree. -- Trees by Joyce Kilmer So Heather Powers challenge this week is Trees. I've actually wanted to make this ring for several weeks now, but this challenge inspired me to move it to the top of my list of wild and crazy ideas. This is the second challenge of Heather Powers that I've entered and I'm thinking that perhaps my creations may not exactly fit with her "inspiration from nature" themes. I've thought a fair amount about this while I was preparing my entry. Now, I totally love nature--my favorite place to be in the whole world is at the ocean on the Washington coast. A place closer to heaven, I have a difficult time imagining. Anyway, I've come to the conclusion that my appreciation of nature is heightened by its interaction with people. Animals live in nature, but they don't have the ability to step outside of it and admire it or be moved by its beauty. It takes people to be in awe, or fear, or overflowing joy due to nature. So my pieces have a blend or interaction of man and nature. No matter how much mankind tries to subdue nature, nature will not be bound. But if mankind did not exist, who would care about nature? Who would labor to protect it? I suppose man can be nature's worst enemy, yet also nature's best friend.