Rainbow Trees?

http://www.darkroastedblend.com/2011/02/painted-trees-in-mountains-of-colorado.html

The blog above features an artist named Curtis Killom. According to this post, Killom has been traversing the Colorado mountains in search of dead trees. He uses these trees as the medium for his art. He takes something once dead and lifeless, infuses it with color and creativity, and breathes life into it yet again. Killom has been painting the dead trees the colors of the rainbow. These trees have become so popular that the artist has received requests to paint trees on private property. When asked of his intention with this tree painting art, Curtis stated, "the intention is to bring out the beauty which is already there." He then goes on to talk about how trees and humans are related and the connection and symbolism that is apparent in his art work. He says, "It is the rebirth which I want to impart to the participants. We as humans all have dreams, visions, and ideas which for most of us are what makes us uniquely who we are. It is those dreams, visions, and ideas that we are to see in each other and breathe back to life, no longer dead- and blending in with the other dead dreams we have stored in our lives." To be completely honest, I don't really know what he's talking about. I guess it could be taken as he takes the dead trees and gives them new life and as humans, we have been known (in a way) to do this to ourselves. If we have dreams or ideas that we let fade, they become similar to the tree? Dead? I say this with uncertainty because 1) I don't fully understand it and 2) I don't really agree with it, if that is, in fact, what the artist means. I don't think if we give up on some dreams or ideas it makes us quitters or any less vibrant and passionate. I don't think our dreams are what makes us "alive". Plus, people constantly develop new dreams as we are forever changing our minds and opinions. I think what makes us "alive" is how we choose to pursue those dreams, or not. However, I do understand and like the idea of rebirth with the rainbow trees. I think it's a positive, yet slightly unclear, message and a fun public display of art.

The Bingley to my Darcy, The Cheesy Dinosaur to my Dancing Noodle: AKA My Best.

My best friend and I have many names for each other. Partially because we just like nicknames, but more importantly, she's more than just my best friend. She's my partner in crime, my confidant, and my sister. We consider ourselves quite the dynamic duo and therefore, we have names for each other referring to some of our favorite fictional characters. The Bingley- Darcy reference is fairly easy to understand. Pride and Prejudice is a classic and one of our favorite books/ movies. The dinosaur- noodle thing is a little on the eccentric side of our friendship, but hey. It's just what we do. You know those Kraft mac n' cheese commercials with the cheesy dinosaur and the dancing noodles? Yup. That's us.

You may be wondering, "Who is this awesome, super cool person you speak of?" My best's name is Elena and surprisingly, I've only known her for a little over a year. We had been in my high school's chorale together for a year and back then, we weren't even close to friends. In fact, we both recall her poking fun at me on several occasions before we really got to know each other. However, during my senior year of high school we started spending more and more time together due to play rehearsal. I remember thinking that this girl was so sweet and down to earth and just plain pleasant to be around. She was like the sun; you just felt good being in her presence and you couldn't help but smile at the positive, upbeat attitude she always projected. The more time we spent together, the closer we became. I shared things with her that I hadn't shared with anyone before. She helped me through the darkest time of my life and for that, I will be forever grateful towards her. Not only was she an incredible friend to me, but the more we got to know each other, we found we had so many things in common.

Elena and I have always bonded over our love for music whether it be actually singing a piece or listening to some crazy 90's pop song. Music was how we first met and bonded and it has been one of the biggest influences on the forming and development of our friendship. As we spent more time together, we found that we also share a love of disney movies, vintage clothing, breakfast, adventuring, dresses with pockets, makeup, Ingrid Michaelson... the list goes on and on.

What's even more important than the things we have in common is what we don't. Elena continually broadens my horizons and introduces me to new things or ideas every day. I love that we can share things with each other and be able to appreciate them just because the other one already does. I am constantly learning and growing from her words and thoughts. I don't think she realizes just how influential she is to me, but it's a pretty big deal. Elena truly knows me through and through. She knows my strengths, my weaknesses, my past, my present, my hopes, my dreams, and my failures, and she, being the exceptional human being that she is, accepts me and loves me for who I am. She can read my very mood from one look at my face or one word that I speak. To me, that is a connection that runs deeper than just "best friends". I believe that there are people in our lives that we're just meant to meet and who will really have an impact on you and stay in your life forever. To me, Elena is one of those people and I know it's the same for her. We're almost the same person. We're loud, exuberant, goofy, emotional, spontaneous, funny (well we think so), and just plain crazy. Yet I still say almost the same. We definitely have our differences and from my experience, it has not been a hindrance to our friendship, but a blessing. If we were exactly the same, we'd get sick of each other in an instant. However, we are different and therefore we continue to learn, bond, and grow from the different perspectives and ideas we can present to each other.

 From the moment I met her, our friendship has been a wild roller coaster ride of ups and downs. The most important thing though, is that through whatever happens, we know we'll always have each other. There's no one that can compare to my crazy, adorable, lovable, kind, clever, witty, patient, thoughtful, smart, eccentric, passionate, and just all around amazing best friend. Elena, this is for you. You're my best, forever and always.

Love, 

Meghan