The inquisitive D asks Grandmother Cottonwood her third question:

Q. What is the happiest thing you’ve ever experienced?

A. I’m what you might call a happy-go-lucky tree. Any day at all is a happy day. Same with nights.  We might define happiness differently.  For me, life itself is happiness.  I savor the sun, the moon, stars, wind, rain, fog, the earth between my rooty toes. The eternal present moment in which we all exist. The hawk, the eagle, the vulture, songbirds of all colors and patterns, the grasses, my fellow and sister trees, plants of all descriptions, insect feet, the changing light throughout the day and across the seasons, laughing children, butterfly wings, these are a few of my favorite things…(insert musical notes, after all, D loves show tunes). I savor the breath of life within me and the turning toward the light of every leaf on my crown, the great shimmering and glimmering when the breeze stirs them. I savor the light that invites me to reach upward to the heavens and the magnetic pull of the earth drawing my roots toward its sacred center. The energetic hits I spoke of earlier cannot dim my joy in living.  I would collapse and die if they did.  Every particle of creation adds to the joy of life on this splendid ball of rock and dirt we call home.