The Smoking Tree

Friday, I was sitting in my car before work having a moment – praying, jamming, procrastinating. I had spring fever like you would not believe. I was ready to skip school, I mean work, and head to the river. For the record, I never skipped school. I mean, I did, but my mom always knew about it.

“Mom, a group of us are skipping school tomorrow to go to the falls.”

“That sounds fun. Wear sunscreen.”

So, anyway. I was sitting in my car looking at this…

(Wasn’t it a gorgeous day?)

When I saw a few puffs of smoke rise up. What on Earth? Who is standing on the bank smoking?

I looked for the alleged smoker, and found no one.

Then I saw more puffs of smoke. Where is this coming from? Is something on fire? I don’t smell smoke.

Then I saw more and more of this smoke. It looked exactly like puffs of smoke that are given off when someone is smoking a cigarette.

Finally, I saw it! The puffs of smoke were coming from the tree, but it wasn’t smoke. It was pollen. Little puffs of pollen were being omitted from the pods on the tree.

Never in my life have I seen this before. Does National Geographic know about this?  What about The Discovery Channel? Craziest thing I have seen in a long time. By far, one of the coolest things in nature I’ve ever witnessed.

I had no idea that you could actually SEE pollen being given off by a tree. I thought it sprinkled down so sparingly that the naked eye could not see it. It appeared on your car in the same magic fashion that dew does. You can watch for dew to form all night long, and you’ll never see it happen. One minute, there’s nothing. And then, in a blink of an eye, it’s there. Trust me, I know. I’ve tried to witness this phenomenon.

When I finally could pull myself away from this glorious act of reproduction, I went to the office to drag someone else outside to share this experience. Turns out, other people who have been around the block a few more times than I have, knew of this magic and were not impressed by my findings. If they know, National Geographic and The Discovery Channel must know.

Just in case this wasn’t included in the Life series, I shot my own video. This is something you cannot go your entire life without seeing!

Unfortunaely, I couldn’t get Oprah to do the narration, so you’ll have to deal with my obnoxious vocie and the sounds of construction in the back ground.

P.S. It’s very subtle, so you may have to watch it a few times before you pick up on it.

Wasn’t that amazing?

Can’t you feel your allergies going nuts?

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