Last week we watched our grandson and one of the activities we had planned was to go around Portland in a streetcar – an experience that he has not had so far since most transportation to and from school or other activities happens by car. It was a fun and educational experience with many questions to be answered along the way. At one point an older lady was sitting next to him, and she engaged him in a vivid conversation. Back and forth they went. One of his favorite questions right now is “Why?”. So, why are you looking out of the window, he asked her? Well, she answered I can look up into the sky, I can look at the trees. Look, do you see the tree waving at you? This statement made me look up, and indeed a light breeze caught the branches of the tree right outside the streetcar and they were swinging ever so slightly. It also made our grandson look, observe and pause his line of questions. Something that does not happen very often. I had never heard this expression before, but it stuck in my head. Waving at someone is a friendly gesture and one had to wonder how often I had missed seeing the tree waving at me? It felt that this was such a profound statement that it had to come from a well-known piece of writing by some well-known author – for adults or children. My google search came up empty, I found this and similar statements as examples of personification of objects to convey an emotion or intention, a technique regularly used in literature. Apparently, trees are a favorite subject for such personification. Perhaps because they come in so many shapes, forms and sizes.
The lady got off the tram at the stop at Oregon Health Science University hospital. She thanked him and us for the entertaining conversation and noted that it had for a short while taken her mind of her daily problems she had to attend next at the clinic. I did not get to say thank you to her for conveying to us such a beautiful phrase as part of our interaction. Now when we go on our daily walks in the neighborhood I look at the trees in a very different way and then I think of her and see her right in front of me. The trees are waving at you – go and see for yourself!