At my Villanova reunion this weekend I took a tour of the campus trees. I had always loved the leafiness of the place but never paid much attention to individual trees.
Our group was small, predominantly female, and included two young women who worked for the university. Our guide, a white-haired Irishman, spoke with passion about each tree we stopped at. These included magnolias, ginkos, an American larch, a Japanese cedar, a paperback maple, and many more. The highlight was the weeping beech, which our guide entered, and we after him, as if into a secret vault. And there, awestruck, we stood encased in leaves and branches. The aspect of shelter was heightened by the fact that it was several degrees cooler than the world outside. Had we not taken the tour, we never would have known about this hidden realm, this hushed green dome, though the carved names and hearts on the trunk and branches showed that generations of students had discovered it.
