Margaret Cheasebro

Now that Thanksgiving is over and some of us may have gained a pound or two after feasting on turkey and all the trimmings, it might be fun and healthy to get some extra exercise.

Recently, I took a walk along the beautiful walkway that follows the Animas River through Farmington, NM, the city in which I live. It was great exercise, and I found some trees with unusual shapes. I snapped a few pictures of them. It's been fun to look at those pictures and remind myself of the trees' artistic shapes.

If you'd like to explore some areas near where you live, grab your camera or iPhone, put on a pair of comfortable walking shoes and bundle up if you live where it's cold. Then drive to places where there are quite a few trees. Take a walk through each area and enjoy the trees that you find. Take pictures of the ones with the most unusual shapes.

Some trees have a typical tree shape that includes a trunk and branches that grow upward from it toward the sky. But sometimes trees have taken on different shapes. Maybe they have several trunks with lots of branches spilling everywhere. Or maybe some of the branches have twisted into creative shapes.

When you find trees with unusual shapes, take a picture of each of them. Then make up a name for each tree so you can identify it later. Making up names for the trees can be almost as much fun as taking pictures of them.

Once you're back home, take a look at your photos. Decide which ones look so unique that you'd like to have prints made of them. Once you have the prints, choose a few that you'd like to hang in your house. Buy frames for the prints. Then have fun fitting each picture into the frame that suits it best. Find the right place to hang each one in your house.

If your pictures are good enough, consider entering them into a local photography contest. If you win a prize or if someone decides to buy your photo, consider it a sign that you have the talent to keep taking and displaying unique pictures.

Have fun hiking, taking photos, and losing a few pounds after the Thanksgiving feast!

Some people take amazing photographs of the designs they find in trees. Junipers and pinons are two kinds of trees that often take on wonderful shapes in this area of high plateau country in northwest New Mexico.

Not too long after I bought my house surrounded by front and back yards, a juniper tree in the front yard needed to be trimmed. Over the years, it had sent out a thick branch from near the base of the juniper. It stretched about 15 feet across the yard. The branch was drooping and struggling to survive. My handyman cut it off near the base of the tree trunk. Since that time the branch stump has taken on an interesting design.

In creative moments, I try to imagine lots of different things it could look like. It could be a sideways face with the two dark colored holes on one side becoming eyes. The smaller round circle on the other end could be a mouth creating an "oh" shape. One morning I glanced out of the kitchen window and for a split second thought I was staring into the face of a wise old man. Then the branch stump quickly took on the shape I see every day.

If you take a walk in your neighborhood, you might spot several different kinds of trees with interesting shapes. It could be fun to see how many designs you can imagine coming from those shapes.

Some people drive along back roads in the countryside to see how many interesting tree designs and stumps they can find. They often take a camera with them to record their discoveries. Some members of photography clubs have prints made of their most impressive photographs. They frame them and enter them into art shows. Others who aren't members of any particular club have fun taking pictures and posting them on Facebook, on their own web page, or on one of many other on-line sites where people can enjoy looking at their photography.

It's delightful to see how creative that people can be and what amazing shapes they find as they keep their eyes wide open for delightful discoveries. The next time you're not sure how to spend part of your day, try driving or hiking around to see what artistic tree wonders you can find.