I'm Laura Norton, and this is one strange thing,

the show where we search the nation's news archives for stories that can't quite be explained.

Thank you. Today we'd like to talk to you about Arborita.

No, not Arbor Day, aka your eighth favorite holiday, but you're close. We want to talk about trees. Some of us are surrounded by them. Others have to travel to parks to get that full

nature fix. But we all know an impressive tree when we see one, some big or grand or weird.

We know there are trees, and then there are famous trees, given names, and celebrated for their incredibly long lives, or for their colorful history, or the landscape around them. In England, there's the Ashbrittle U.

Experts guess its age at 3,000 to 4,000 years.

It's rumored to sit on the burial mound of an ancient dignitary.

Or maybe you've heard of the 400-year-old tree of life, located in a desert in the country of Bahrain.

The mesquite is the only tree for miles, standing alone atop a hill. Despite blazing temperatures

and dry ground, it's reported to be 32 feet tall.

When it comes to big-time trees, the United States is no slouch.

In California's Sequoia National Park, there's General Sherman, which is celebrated as the largest tree in the world.

The Sequoia was certainly named for the Civil War General, but exactly

how and why are hotly debated. As with most of its history, America doesn't let accuracy

get in the way of a good story. And there's a great story and a great tree down in Athens, Georgia.

It's a city in the northern part of the state, most famous as home to the University of Georgia

and the band REM.

We won't mention sports, though that's big down there too.

The South is awfully sensitive where football is concerned.

In any case, hands down, the most intriguing spot on an Athens sightseeing tour is a little

patch of ground at the corner of Finley Enduring Streets.

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