Because I listen, nature beckons.

This tree spoke to me, as I gazed at her curiously, wondering why her brown furled oak leaves clung to her branches, even as the snow fell.

“I kept my leaves because they are pretty,” she said.

Yes they are, I replied. They are a spectacular color.

I continued, I’m just so curious why you still have them, when all the other trees let go of theirs weeks ago?

“Because I could,” she laughed.

And then more thoughtfully, she said quietly, “Because I wanted to show you.”

Show me what? I queried.

“That I could do magic,” She whispered.

I listened, waiting for her to tell me more.

I viewed her beautiful trunk colored with golden lichen, and the pale brown leaves now covered with huge gobs of snow.

She did indeed have a magical appearance, and I didn’t comprehend how she’d managed to hold onto her leaves in the dead of winter.

Would you like me to knock off some of the snow? I asked, noticing it was weighing heavy on some of her branches, especially because of the leaves.

“Oh yes!” she said, giggling with anticipation that her branches would be free from the weight.

I pushed the heavy snow from several of her lower branches, and heard her give a sigh of relief as the limbs bounced skyward, free of the heavy snow.

I sensed her quiet gratitude.

As I paused, I noticed the heart-shaped metal art I had hung from her branches when I moved in last summer.

She noticed my glance.

“You made me the heart tree,” she claimed proudly.

Ah, yes, I did, I thought.

“And I wanted to show you the magic I could create. I did it for your heart.”

I felt a tear roll from the corner of my eye. This unexpected connection with my heart tree.

Thank you, I cried to her. I am so grateful.

“Of course,” She nodded at me.

I shoveled more snow to her base, anticipating her roots growing warm with the cover.