Today I took my class on an “after the wind walk”. The past few days we have had crazy strong winds that have kept us inside.

Laying across a soccer field near our class, we found a huge tree that had fallen.

The kids ran toward the tree with pure excitement. I watched as they crawled through the branches of a tree they would have never been able to climb.

This tree we have passed so many times that stood so tall, lay in front of us looking so different.

The treasures that lived hidden in this tree for so many years were now scattered all over. The kids collected all the trees treasures to take with them.

I think about the birds that have landed on these branches and the many nests that have been built over the years. Will they find a new tree? Will they miss this tree? Will the tree miss them?

Today the wind blew down a tree, and in a few days trucks will come and take it away.

But today the kids will play, explore, and climb, and they will see that a tree will continue to hold us up even when it falls.