Looking out the window I was transfixed by the trees
The outside edge of a vast forest
It was autumn and I admired the various colors of the leaves
I felt as if I were on pins and needles
Preparing to go out and commune with nature
As was the way with those of us blessed to live in Oregon

I have always lived in Oregon
Though I have traveled to many different forests
Often I am struck by the difference in the leaves
As I wander through my home away from home, nature
Stopping often to examine the trees
Crush and smell the needles

There is nothing like the smell of fresh Fir needles
When standing in a temperate rain forest
Like the one we have here in Oregon
Looking out across the tops of the trees
Entranced by the turning Oak leaves
Becoming one with the surrounding nature

It is such a blessing to have a relationship with nature
And fairly easy if one chooses to live in Oregon
You needn’t have love for forests
Or a desire to play amongst the leaves
The eastern desert has Juniper needles
And small scrub-brush trees

The Oregon coast has wind-swept trees
With branches stretched and tattered leaves
We find the smell of pine when crushing these needles
Along the Pacific in beautiful Oregon
And while the difference is vast within nature
It is all part of the greater Oregon forest

I stood content, as a part of the forest
Rooted to the spot I stood I became one with the trees
Beneath me lay the softest bed of spruce needles
I thought, “I am living as part of, and in tandem with, nature,
this is what it is to be an Oregonian”
I stretched out my fingers and they became as the leaves

Contemplating Oregon and its various coniferous needles
The natural beauty surrounded me like a thick stand of trees
And the forest held me close, as if I were a freshly opened leaf