I’m not sure why but I do not see willows hardly anywhere anymore.  I used to find them gracing small ponds and lakes around the city.  Perhaps it is because now most of our land sadly has been paved.  Whatever the case, I was so shocked to discover this willow on the corner of a street I stopped in the middle of traffic to take this picture.  I had not seen one in over 20 years!  The American journalist Barbara Walters was mocked for decades after once having asked the question, “What kind of a tree?” as a follow up in response to her interview with Katharine Hepburn.  However it was the the famous actress who notoriously said she would like to be a tree.  Personally I find the question both interesting and revealing.  The legendary American martial artist Bruce Lee once said:

“Notice that the stiffest tree is most easily cracked, while the bamboo or willow survives by bending with the wind.”

I have always loved that.  I aspire to be elegant, graceful, and resilient — just like the willow.