hazel crazy

I'm going to try my own hand at sketching a clump of hazel nuts, but until that happens, here's a nice sketch from the Trees for Life website. I'm turning into a hazel maniac...aside from my love of hazelnut ice cream, which I've only found in Germany...I now have Celtic mythology to thank for pointing out that cutting down a hazel tree was punishable by death...one of the sacred trees, as Karen Bledsoe pointed out...and hazel wood was used for divination rods. Hazel signifies wisdom and  poetic inspiration...and ya know, that's just too cool when you think about a National Writing Project writing retreat.