The Tree Hugger Society

A picture taken back in the early days of our University life....evidence that we were all heading into the natural world as professionals.  This is my dear group of friends who I have travelled, studied, and shared so many memories with...we hugged trees and studied in the very granola academic world of UW-Stevens Point.  For those of you who don't know the Wisconsin school system, this college was known, and still is, as the "Natural Resources College."  It was a wonderful experience and there was nothing like being around people of similiar mind and attitude. Today, going from left to right, my friend in the red scarf is a naturalist at a park in Michigan, I'm teaching Spanish, and on the right, my friend with the dark hair, became a Doctor of plants in New Zealand....not sure exactly what Doctors do with plants, but I do know that she is busy busy busy.  I do like when she goes out on her field  assignments and snaps pics of her wonderful world in the land of hobbits and elves. What do I hate about it all?  All of us now live in different locations!  What I wouldn't give to go back to simpler times of being broke and going on those nature hikes together in Schmeeckle Reserve or biking the Green Circle. The one thing I miss most about my youth are the deep friendships that were formed and that have now spread out across the globe.  There was nothing better than sharing those moments of the outdoors with one another.  In a future post, I'll write about the amazing Porcupine Mountains of Upper Michigan....wow!  But for now, I thought I'd share some of my tree hugger friends that are near and dear to me doing what they do best....hugging trees:)

http://www.uwsp.edu/cnr/schmeeckle/

Granola Moments:)

I'm not sure what's going on here, but my friend is sure loving this tree in Yosemite!

Me in the Mingus Mountains outside of Jerome, AZ

Hanging off a tree near Poas in Costa Rica

Hug a tree!!  It'll make you feel better:)