Old Trees

I catch sight of the old trees
In the courtyard.
It is sheer joy just to look at them
Again!
-- T'ao Ch'ien
(from, Going Home; 
in, A Garden of Peonies, edited by Henry H. Hart)

Home Coming (1932) 
by Qi Kun (Ch'ien K'un) (1901-1944)
(from, www.artvalue.com)

Old trees are wonderful examples of Dao's manifested aspects.  They grow silently, converting time into Li (the grain pattern found in wood, stone, water, etc.).  They experience  the stillness and movement of Dao.  They all begin as a seed buried in the dark, moist earth....continuously becoming a unique expression of Dao.  They all have similar features, yet each is shaped by the flow of Dao.  Old trees can be old friends and companions.