Do you ever look at something so much that you don't really pay attention to what it's saying? I do, all the time. Last night, for example, I was writing a letter on a notepad when I actually stopped writing and looked at it closely.

I bought the notepad when I visited the Muir Woods National Monument in Mill Valley, California two summers ago. The trees were immense, tall, and the kind that you want to put your arms around. (I'd never thought of myself as a tree hugger even though one of my favorite children's books is Aani and the Tree Huggers, but there I found myself wrapping my arms around a tree trunk and relishing its sturdy stability.)

At the end of my hike, I wanted to buy a souvenir under $5 to take back. That ruled out a tee-shirt and left me with choices such as pen and magnets. Since I wanted something even more "special," I kept browsing through the racks until I found my notepad.

The notepad was made from recycled paper. A fuzzy beige, it had a sketch of a looming tree and these words:

Advice from a tree: Stand tall and proud - Sink your roots deep into the earth - Be content with your natural beauty - Go out on a limb - Drink plenty of water - Remember your roots - And enjoy the view!

Aha! Perfect! I paid for it and took it home.

The notepad has served me well over the years. I use the pages sparingly, on special occasions and when I need to be reminded of these simple truths.

Last night, after I re-read this advice, I got to thinking - who wrote it? After all, every piece of writing - whether it's on the back of a cereal box, a post-it note, or a greeting card - has a source. Thanks to google, I found "Advice from a Tree" by Ian Shamir pretty easily. |Read the full poem.

This weekend, I'm going to try and write a piece of advice from another part of nature - a bird, a blade of grass, a bubbling brook, a river, the ocean, or maybe even, a cloud. Write your own and post it here for the rest of us to read. Let's see what we can come up with together.