There were several ancient Redgums on Rose’s Reserve.  Huge gnarly old trees, with twisted branches that created a beautiful shady canopy and trunks so wide that I don’t think even three people with joined hands could encircle.  There is something about old trees.  In many cultures they are revered as spirits or even deities holding special powers and wreaking revenge if damaged or killed.  I can see why.  Being in the presence of an old tree always makes me feel calmer. Imagining all that it has witnessed, silently over its lifetime, the changes it has seen, the myriad of creatures that have lived out their lives in its branches, leaves, bark and roots.  The storms and bushfires they have endured and survived?  To think that many trees were here long before I was born, before even my Grandparents were born, before European settlements destroyed so much? I naturally think of trees as having a kind of sentience, the kind that doesn’t need words, they bear witness to their surroundings and somehow that wisdom lives deep within their dense woody hearts.  I really love trees!! I reckon this one has seen a lot of life!!