“I think it needs to be a little higher,” Susan says. She’s looking up into the apple tree on our church lawn, where my son Jack; his friend, also named Jack (we’ll call him Jack Y, to minimize confusion); and my daughter, Jane, are perched on branches of varying heights.
Jack’s mom, Janice, and I peer up through the leaves, too. We’ve just watched Susan hand a wind chime up to Jane, who passed it up to Jack Y, who passed it up to my Jack, seated on a branch about ten feet above our heads. He now holds the wind chime by a long green ribbon strung through its hanger and wrapped round a tree branch. He pulls the ribbon tighter around the branch, and the wind chime rises into the air.
My girls and I love the Poetree! It brought big smiles to all our faces. The girls might not stand still long enough to listen to the poems, but they love the beauty and playfulness of the decorated tree.
Leah, I’m so glad you’re enjoying it. I was at the church today untangling the ribbons and reading the poems again and I thought of your comment here. Next time we do this, I think we’ll include some nice short poems for kids to enjoy. Maybe even some poetry written specifically for children, say, Eve Merriam or Rachel Field. Thanks for sparking this idea!