A Visit to the Sunday Tree

I mentioned in my weekend recap post yesterday that Doug and I made a trip to The Sunday Tree while we were camping in Young, Arizona. Today I have a few more photos of this glorious old juniper tree.

♥

Doug and his brothers give names to places they discover while they're on their adventures, and it's amazing how many there are. It's also amazing that when one of them refers to "Elk Camp" or "Bobcat Canyon" the others know the exact place they are referring to. There's also the "Naked Lady Trough" - not because there was one there, but because someone carved the shape of one on the front of the old cow trough there. LOL. But, yeah, The Sunday Tree is one of those places they named long ago and the name just stuck.

I've written about the Sunday Tree before {this post} and some of you may remember that this is the place where Doug's mom's ashes are laid to rest. You can see the rocks marking PJ's resting place in the photo above, under the shade of this beautiful tree.

We took PJ there during a camping trip one time, and she loved the view from the shade of this tree so much she commented that she'd love to spend eternity here. The view is just so serene and spectacular under her branches.

We don't always make it to The Sunday Tree on our rare camping trips anymore, but for some reason it was really important to us to visit her this time.

Our dear old Sunday Tree is covered with a parasite that may be taking its toll. We think she still has a lot of life in her though. It's difficult to tell how old this tree is, but based on her trunk size, we think she's at least 100 years old. She stands alone on a hill top, towering over hundreds of other juniper trees in the valley below.

If you look at the post I created in 2009, you'll see my mother-in-law standing under The Sunday Tree, wearing a white hat and holding a walking stick. It's interesting that we laid her ashes to rest in the very spot she was standing in that photo - unintentionally. Isn't that cool? I love stuff like that.

Such a great place for a picnic, a cold drink, some meditation, and spending eternity.

♥