The Rock and the Tree

In the Lamar Valley of Yellowstone, there is an area where if you look around every tree is is paired up with a very large rock.  And when I mean paired, I mean as snug as you can get.  In fact, DH said it looked like the rocks rolled down a hill and stopped when they crashed into a tree.  If you look very carefully, you will in fact not find a single tree that is not with a rock.  The rest of the vegetation is just sage bush and grass.  My theory (of which I did no investigatory research): when a seed fell in this inhospitable environment, the hot sun and the cold nights killed anything more fragile than a sage bush.  But if a seed fell by a rock, it was shaded from the intense light and heat, at night the rock which had absorbed sun all day released that heat back into the ground.  Rain fell and streamed off the rock onto the small seed and it grew into a massive tree that surrounded an edge of the rock.  Now the rock enjoys the shade of the tree, the companionship of the animals that live in its branches, the sound of the rustling leaves and swaying branches in the wind.   It is one of the first things to feel the spring frost as the tree pulls the sun's rays and warmth down into its roots that hug the rock.  This pair makes me think of the elements that makes us strong.  Sometimes we need to be like a rock: unbending, tough, solid, a place for someone to lean on, a shelter for a small seed, a place where light and warmth are absorbed and released back to others.  But also like a tree, growing, providing shade and shelter, yielding when it is right to do so, sometimes fragile but other times so strong, connected to others, able to ask for and lean on another when its necessary.  A good relationship is composed of these elements too.  Each person has some wood and some rock and together they are strong and complete providing for the other as needed.
If you ever get a chance to visit the Lamar Valley, you should look for these tree/rocks.  It is a striking composition and really touched me deeply as I go into my last week before I start school.  I am trying to shed my fears, anxieties, and doubts.  I am trying to channel the rock and the tree.  Trying to be the rock and the tree for my family.  And for myself.