This is your brain on Tolkien Overload

Okay, I think it's really, really cool that this dude has found a really, really old tree. And it doesn't even bother me that he ain't tellin' where it is. But he TALKED TO IT and describes it as "magical."

"The tree itself just has this glow about it. You can tell it's significant when you approach it."

A glowing, nuke-ular tree? No wonder it's so old. Hasn't even reached its half-life yet.

"The last time I was in there I kind of apologized to the tree for taking the core, and just told it how important I think it is," said Phillips. "I don't want other people to go in there and trample it down. The human impact that it's escaped is the reason why it's still there."

I'm surprised the tree didn't reach down and swat him for taking a core sample. Sounds like he half expected it to.