January 2026

Old Friends and Trees

By Karen Bagnard

In honor of her dear friend, Holly

Trees are like old friends. They are always putting down roots

to anchor the love that weathers the tumbling falls of life’s

storms. At the same time they are reaching outward and

upward in search of new life and the light of greater wisdom,

always trusting in what is to come.

Old friends are like trees whose roots sometimes are like one.

We are two separate beings with roots growing closer and

deeper all the time. Among the roots are hard stones,

sometimes even boulders, where our roots separate and

continue to grow. Later those roots meet up again, sometimes

gnarled and scarred, but always strong and determined with a

magical magnetism for each other.