Cherububble

The Elephant Foot Tree

Emily’s nose was pressed against the window.

‘Look,’ she pointed, ‘those trees have black trunks. Mine always have brown.’

‘They’re elms,’ Dad said, ‘the rain has made their trunks look black.

‘What about the yellow leaves?’

‘They’re deciduous trees,’ he replied. ‘That means they change colour

in autumn and lose their leaves. They grow new ones again in spring.’

‘Do other trees have different colours too?’ Emily asked. Dad smiled his

“you tell me” smile. Emily grinned. She knew Dad.

‘Can we go and look. It’s stopped raining?’

In the park Emily turned around slowly. 

‘I can see lots of colourful trees.’ She scampered to a nearby tree and

stroked the shiny orange and pale brown ovals on its trunk.  

‘Beautiful,’ she said, ‘and it has needle leaves, but not sewing needles!’

‘Look,’ Dad indicated an enormous plane tree. ‘You could hide behind it.’

Emily disappeared giggling. She tried to put her arms around its huge trunk.

‘It’s an army camouflage tree with its yellow, green and grey patterned trunk,’

she said studying it. ‘This one’s deciduous too because its leaves are changing colour.

‘That’s right,’ Dad replied, ‘good girl’.

‘I love autumn and crunchy leaves. At school, Millie and I build giant nests.

We try to catch the floating leaves.’

The next tree she noticed was tall and skinny with a pale pink trunk.

‘Pink,’ she shouted, ‘my favourite colour.’

‘That’s a eucalypt or gum tree,’ Dad said. 

Emily stared up its height.

‘It’s sad. It’s been crying,’ she said, running her finger down a long brown groove.

Emily spotted another elm.

‘This one’s dark grey,’ she announced, surprised.

‘That’s its usual colour,’ Dad told her, ‘it’s bark has dried.

Look closely in the grooves and you might find some little creatures.’

Emily peered into the craggy bark.

‘I can see a spider’s web but no spider. Do you think spiders tickle the tree?’

Nearby was a tree with tiny, tiny buds. Emily touched one gently.

‘Will these become blossom?’ 

‘Yes,’ Dad nodded, ‘in a few weeks. When you see blossom trees

you know spring is coming.’ 

Running across the grass, Emily noticed another gum with a ghostly white trunk.

Shading her eyes, she looked way, way up, wondering if its leaves touched the sky.

Looking back down, she started giggling.

‘Look, Dad look,’ she squealed, ‘this tree has elephant feet!’

Sure enough, at the base of the trunk were several curved, sagging wrinkles

exactly like elephant feet.

Emily plonked herself down beside the wrinkled feet, resting her cheek against

the soft milky trunk.

‘Trees are all colours, not just green and brown,’ she announced looking around,

‘but this is my favourite. Which is yours, Dad?

Elizabeth Smart © 2009