Early one morning, when the backyard was bright-lit, I set off on a gardening mission aimed at death and destruction. The weeds were getting overly aggressive; the shrubs and bushes were expanding beyond their allotted spaces.

But as I stepped into the backyard, planning the stages of the attack, I paused to observe—to, as my editor would say, keep a presence in the now.

I looked first at the three-branched trunk of a river birch tree. The habit of this young tree is for thin strips of bark to peel partly off and curl, creating ever-changing random textures and shapes. This tree mostly shows colors of pink and silver. This morning, however, the bark was wet- dark, and the sun brought out dramatic red brick tones.

I went back to the house, got a camera and tripod and took a couple of shots. The accompanying photo of the river birch alone is pretty much as I saw it.

I left the camera on the tripod and went about weeding and trimming. But I kept looking over at the river birch. After awhile I noticed a bright red cardinal flitting about in the woods behind the river birch. Sometimes a cardinal actually lands in this tree, using it as a staging ground for onward flight. I went and stood by the camera. Weeds are forever, cardinals come and go.

After the cardinal came and posed for a photo, I totally abandoned weeding and concentrated on being present in the present. Would you believe? Along came a ­yellow-shafted northern flicker, a magnificent woodpecker. It too landed on the tree. A male to boot—only the males have moustaches. Double bonus of birds on a birch and all in one morning.

The birch is my backyard anchor. It stops me in my tracks, slows my brain down, and brings me from the future back to the present. This is current awareness sensitivity training with a tree.

Anyone can choose a tree for daily observation, preferably a deciduous one that changes with the seasons. Hearing, as well as sight, may be invoked if the tree moves in a breeze or a tree resident gives voice. Even the sense of smell may come into play, depending on the tree and how keen is an observer’s nose.

In Tree Town it is not very hard to find a tree! Even if your own home is treeless, the city forestry department’s inventory shows 50,148 public trees, of which the largest share—35 ­percent—are maples. Maples as a group are generally pretty visually interesting trees.

Actual tree hugging is not required. A visual embrace will do.