Old willow

An old willow tree, before the buds return and everything is hidden again for another year. This is a very gnarled and hollowed specimen but still keeps going - in fact I daresay that the tree just evolves through different forms in the same spot. Willow certainly seems to take from any bit of live material that's thrust into the ground, and this one is away from any risk of being browsed by farm animals, so left to its own devices will no doubt keep going indefinitely. 

Familiar, and favourite, trees become part of one's everyday life. It's like it is with the people you meet regularly - you mostly just pass the time of day, but occasionally stop to have a longer conversation and perhaps learn something about them that you hadn't known before.