She said "they're just trees, Joi".

I once had someone say 'they're just trees, Joi'. To explain the context of this conversation, I was having a conversation with a group of friends about how fascinated I was in the diversity of trees. How some were huge fast growers, and others were smaller, used strictly for show casing in a small area. I have to be honest, I was pretty irritated at her comment. To me, it was pretty apparent that this person wasn't really appreciative of the natural creations put here for our enjoyment on the earth. Trees being amongst them. So you may have other things you'd rather ponder over than trees. Cool with me. I can't tell you how to use your energy thinking about what's important to you. But I'd venture a guess that you'd be very greatly affected if one day, like in a science fiction movie, there were no trees or plants. Just give that some thought for a minute. Two of my absolutely favorite streets in Salt Lake City are Yale and Harvard Avenue. The houses are old and charming and built in a cottage bungalow style. Most built in the early 1900s. But what intrigues me about these streets are the trees that line them. Huge, stately trees, Sycamores to be exact, that cantilever over the street and are lined up as if they were hospitality staff welcoming you to the neighborhood. Imagine them gone. Yeah, but 'they're just trees, Joi'. I've always viewed landscaping as just a way to remind you of what's on this beautiful earth and this earth would be a sterile, unwelcoming place. What a thing to contemplate, things that grow. Now that's a broad subject. There's a lot of things that grow. Population, your kids, interest, hair, debt, assets, cancer, frustration, curiosity, divisions, your waistline. Some literal, some intangible. But when trees and plants grow, they do so in such a brilliantly designed order, something beautiful, something that makes the passing of time undeniable. They have a huge impact on our happiness and well-being. Trees grow in a silent but commanding way. They exhibit traits that we work at as humans, like endurance and tenacity under hardship. When adversity comes, they find their way around it. Although bent, they're still beautiful. They do what they need to in order to survive. They are the perfect result of ingenious engineering from the tip of their roots to the top of their tallest leader branch. They don't need a water pump for nutrients, they are a water pump with no need of anything additional. They provide the air we breath and a beauty that is unique only to themselves. There's nothing like a tree when it comes to a majestically beautiful anchor, one that constantly grows. But come on. They're just trees.