In the company of trees
Taking time to hug our stoutest of leafy friends
Okay, I admit it; I'm a tree hugger. And why not? Trees hold an almost magical quality worth embracing. ~JRC
Who doesn't enjoy being in the company of trees? A walk in the woods. Sitting under one in a park. Protected beneath a green canopy on a hot day. Trees are there for us in so many ways.
Our leafy friends are every bit as alive as you and me. But unlike humans (and other animals), trees persist, almost timelessly in place. Hugging one lets you experience all that a tree is, how it is vastly different from and yet very much a part of us.
Trees, biologically speaking, are not a single group of living things. Plants have evolved arborescence countless times over the eons. A palm might seem similar to a pine, but they are not all that closely related. In fact, trees occur in numerous different plant families, from Asteraceae to Zamiaceae, and many in between. There are tree sunflowers and tree roses. Tree peppers exist, too, and so do even tree African violets.
A tree, then - again biologically speaking - is a description of growth habit. Trees differ from softer plants in having wood. And they are further distinguished from shrubs in having a single principal trunk. The main thing that connects all these various "trees" is being woody and monolithic.
A miraculous trait of trees: they tend to be long-lived. One of the oldest verified trees was "Prometheus," a Great Basin bristlecone pine (Pinus longaeva). Calculated to be over 4900 years old, this tree was ancient.
Think about that for a moment - Prometheus took root way back in the 29th Century B.C. Stonehenge was built somewhere around this time. It was the age of ancient Egypt, and humans had only recently emerged from the Stone Age.
Of course, not all trees last this long, but many outlive generations of humans by far.
Trees not only live a long time, but they do so in one single spot. Where they sprout is where they grow and live out their entire lives. Imagine for a second how long you would live if you couldn't get up and move. Trees are well-suited to staying put.
And then there is the utility of trees. Wood is the perfect building material. Solid, durable, renewable - wood does it all.
If harvested sustainably, using wood is a net positive for our planet. Granted, a lot of bad has come from using too many trees. Whole forests and ecosystems have suffered from over-harvesting and deforestation. But we are learning to use our trees better, and wood continues to be a good thing.
As a maker, wood is my favorite material to use. Cutting, shaping, and finishing it is easier than with metal and plastic. And doing so does not usually release harmful waste. Sure, you don't want to breathe powdery sawdust. But that goes for any fine particulate matter. It's not the wood that's bad for us; it's the dust.
Wood is also beautiful. Amazing artists and designers like Frank Lloyd Wright, Barbara Hepworth, and Charles & Ray Eames used wood to great effect. And my dad could take a rough cut of timber and transform it into an elegant end table or turn it into a curvy bowl. With a light oil finish or sanded smooth, wood shines with infinite character.
Back in the early conservation movement, environmentalists became known as "tree huggers." Both a compliment and an insult, the term has come to mean many things over the years. I like to imagine it literally, as in someone who hugs a tree now and again.
Have you ever done it? Hug a tree? I mean, really hug a tree.
To do so, you must let yourself into the moment and embrace that tree. Appreciate it as you would one of your fellow humans. Try and recognize that it is alive and empathize with it. Feel the tree for all that it is and does.
If you do - and I strongly encourage you - it might surprise you how it feels. The tree doesn't possess human-like consciousness, and it cannot love back, I am sure. Such things are all us, not the tree, and I'm not some faux spiritual guru professing otherwise. No, a tree's place is different altogether, owing to its unique evolution. And although it cannot express human emotions or cognition, it doesn't make it any less real or even any less alive. It's insanely different from us, that's all. Genuinely hugging a tree can open one up to this experience.
I do sense something special when I embrace a tree. Whatever the bond is, and however it has formed, it is real. The tree is uniquely connected to me, and I to it.
I am better for it, being there, with a tree.
Until next time.
JRC
Good to see you branching out!
¡Abrazos!