Falling in Love with a Tree

You may or may not remember that one of the sessions for my Religion and the Arts class involved a time of sketching outside (for more, see this blog post).  I spent an hour sitting in the same spot sketching the same tree.  

I've felt a fondness for that tree and kept an eye on it as I made my way to chapel or to class.  I had wondered if the tree's leaves would change colors since it didn't change colors for weeks and weeks. After the other trees had lost their leaves, and it still hadn't changed much, I began to think it might be some sort of evergreen.

But after Thanksgiving, it had changed:

I need to do some research on this tree.  I don't know what kind of tree it is.  I haven't returned to sketch it again.  It's been cold and rainy.

I love this shot of the tree outside and the Christmas tree inside:

Here's the Christmas tree by itself:

And here's a close up shot of the leaves on the outside tree:

I do feel more of a fondness for this tree because I spent an hour in September sketching it.  It makes me think we should spend more time sketching.  Would we feel more of a bond with the planet?  Would we work harder to save the natural world if we had spent time sketching every week?