After three long weeks of work at my new job, I needed a respite from the world of bits and pieces. I was able to find one right outside my door.
I sat silently in the small Los Angeles courtyard, gradually forgetting the challenges and stresses of running a company. I felt the comforting presence of the tree above me, shading me from the sun when I got too hot, and breathing with me in time. The tree let little glimpses of light shine through, while its neighbors reflected the sun with their leaves, creating a dynamic, daytime star field as they swayed in the breeze – telling their ancient story:
Throughout the history of man, trees have played a crucial role in our development. Years ago, they were our shelter, giving us a better perspective from up high and protecting us from predators. We shared this home with many other creatures who also sought a place in which to flourish. But like those other animals, we needed to leave our homes to gather resources, find mates, and exchange goods. Life was simple, but fraught with danger.
And then man learned of fire through some act of nature, God, Prometheus, or Lucifer. He discovered how to contain the flame and then how to create it. Those with this knowledge held a clear advantage over those left in the dark.
The carriers of the light traveled north to explore the uninhabited lands. The trees became more coniferous, the nights grew long, and the winters became a blistering cold. Trees, preferable in their decaying state, were burned to keep our internal flame going. We were safeguarded against night stalkers and hypothermia. The flame even became a sign of civilization – a gathering point around which a community of humans might form. The torch currently symbolizes this phenomenon.
Though originally made of earth and stone, the houses of these humans once again became the trees. But this time, the trees were felled and reordered into more and more suitable shelters. They provided a sufficient barrier against the outside world, giving a sense of safety in a perilous existence.
They even became our vessels against the sea, opening up new worlds. Man was able to move people and goods in much higher quantities, at much greater speeds, because of the amazing properties of wood. How else could so many Irish, Chinese, and African people have been shipped to labor in the New World, but for our mastery of trees?
We can look around today and see how integral the tree has been to our way of life. But does our relationship to the tree not go any deeper? Perhaps.
For one, we share the same calendar with trees. Trees mark their solar years in a circular fashion, while we blow out the flames of our years stuck into a cake.
Tremendously, the most intelligent data structures imitate the tree. When organizing family histories, the internet, and knowledge in general, the tree becomes the most appropriate resulting diagram – unfortunately it is often squashed down into two-dimensions and rendered useless.
Triumphantly, we are trees. Our toes, feet, and legs are our roots. Our trunks are.. well, our trunks. And our arms, hands and fingers branch out, probing into the world. They allow us to produce, obtain, and consume energy.
We lack the chloroplasts of the tree, which makes us unable to sufficiently synthesize enough energy from the sun without also eating. But like most forms of life, we have melanin to protect our sensitive bodies from the sun's radiation. With the proper amount of sunlight, the melatonin hormone within us helps us to be happier, healthier, and more radiant people. Hence Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD), the ridiculously acronymed “disease” that occurs when a human does not spend enough time outside.
But unlike the tree, we can pull up our roots – our support structures – and plant ourselves all over the world. Some people are of hardier strains, with more fully developed brains containing many branches and roots. These humans are much like the hemp plant, incredibly useful, abhorred by big corporations, and able to flourish in even the harshest of conditions.
But of course with the Tree of Life comes the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. Macbeth was right to worry when 'Birnam Forest come to Dunsinane'. The wizard Sarumon could not stand the onslaught of Ent tree-herders angered out of Fanghorn Forest. Have you never seen a tree with eyes?
They are full of power and force, and yet we take them for granted in our daily lives.
I wonder: what would the wind be like if there were no trees to give it life and voice? and will the Cradle drop?
Though he is of noble blood, Ferdinand has no desire to fight or rule. He would prefer to explore, to ponder, to love, and to smell the flowers. Nevertheless, Ferdinand is a bull and he has horns.
I have a tree in my court yard that enables meditation. My guess is the tree was harvested for it's timber over 100 years ago, when the Pioneers figured the coastal redwoods were Sierra Redwoods, for the base of the tree is burned, a practice old lumberjacks did (learned from the Indians) to start the seedings..but coast redwoods have burls with seeds. The trunk is roughly 40+ ft round, with a massive burl on the west face that is as big as a car tire. Two redwoods grew from the north and south end of the stump, both are larger than what I see the logging trucks hauling. But what makes this tree so special to me is that it appears, after the tree was first harvested, an acorn started, and as the redwood split it's energy between the two new trunks, the acorn grew into and around the redwood..they have become braided, if you will. The redwood and oak layer each other through the years in a struggle to survive and thrive, they are narly and massive, as the oak is now as old as the two redwoods on the one stump...about 100 years old. I wanted to share that with you Ferdinand because your writing is so beautiful, I think you might appreciate this tree more than most...and I woukld like to share with you this...knocking on wood...It was believed that trees spoke to God, so knocking on wood was like saying, "From your lips to God's ears". If you can, the wood should be above your head, but it not..any wood will do. Thank you for a beautiful story about trees.
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Jeanette Doney (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 6 diaries, 304 comments)
on Thursday, April 17, 2008 at 8:59:24 AM
I love both the article and this reply.....is it possible to see a picture of your redwoods/oak tree? Your words have created a great picture all ready. I grew up with a huge walnut tree in our front yard, and that tree was my dear friend. Many more trees have followed that one, and I actively seek them out.Trees are sentient beings, I believe, and we should do more to nurture them. They do nurture us in return.
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Linda Johnson-Rubick (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 1 comments)
on Thursday, April 17, 2008 at 12:17:00 PM
I sometimes meditate, visualizing how the tree's roots pull up water through the trunk, releas through the leaves and how the water goes into the atmosphere, into the sea, etc. and imagine myself a tree, absorbing sunlight, with branches swaying in the wind.
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Rob Kall (727 articles, 3771 quicklinks, 311 diaries, 1517 comments)
on Friday, April 18, 2008 at 8:53:06 AM
For many years I have been planting tree seeds that I find on my walks through wooded areas and also small seedlings that I find, if they are in areas where they are unlikely to prosper. The result? All over my residential property I have growing trees - some now well over 20 feet. Watching my dozens of trees grow and make it through winters is a never ending joy. I have learned to prune them to enhance their growth and select locations that serve some purpose, like shielding traffic noise on an adjacent busy street. As I grow older so do my many trees that in so many ways are like my children... And I certainly know that I am doing much to combat global warming and even provide shade to cut my utility bills. I wish more people would learn the fun of planting tree seeds and transplanting small seedlings to their property. No need to spend large sums on buying trees; better to start small and watch them soar.....
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Joel S. Hirschhorn (114 articles, 20 quicklinks, 46 diaries, 430 comments)
on Friday, April 18, 2008 at 9:21:23 AM
