See? Wasn’t that easy to understand? I bet you are already half way out the door to find a tree to hug. Well go ahead. You can come back later to finish this blog.

Now I could go on and on about how much carbon trees soak up, or how they lower the temperatures especially in urban areas, or how they increase the value of your home. But really, does everything in nature have to do something for us or have economic value as a prerequisite for us to care about it? Can’t we just appreciate the trees for what they are? Do you hug your family and friends so you can get close enough to rummage through their pockets for a few dollars? Really people. I’ll stop ranting now.

A musical interlude to calm my nerves.

National Tree Hugger Day is sponsored by American Forests (a conservation group founded in 1875) and IKEA (a fabulous place to shop founded in 1943). They have been working together on environmental projects since 1998. I have been to forests in America and to IKEA and I can honestly say on both accounts – Loved it!

So now that you have decided you are going to hug a tree where do you find one to hug? I like the idea of hugging one near your own home. You know: Think globally, hug locally. But if you cannot find one near you, or you just can’t stop once you start, then come on over to our trees at the IMA. We have lots of huggable trees. Please be careful not to step on surrounding plants. Bad Tree Hugger! Bad!

We love our trees so much here at the IMA that some of us got an early start this week.

Here Katie hugs a sugar maple by our offices.

Jim hugging an American beech along the horseshoe drive at Lilly House.

Native Hoosier Gwyn with a native Tulip poplar.

Another musical interlude.

Some trees are so large it takes a group to hug them properly. Katie’s out of view. This is our big ash tree near Garden Terrace.

Another group hug on the Sutphin Mall red maples.

So as you can see, one can celebrate National Tree Hugger Day alone or with family and friends. Just be sure to get out there and start hugging.

Of course what tree blog would be complete without this song to get stuck in your head all week-end. Enjoy, my tree hugging friends.