The heart & soul of Nature - Trees(1)

Trees – A Look Into the Heart and Soul of Nature

Trees are very special, aren’t they?

I have always had a “thing” for trees. When I was a little girl, if my Mom couldn’t find me, she knew to look up in the trees around the house. And there I would be, perched on a branch, just looking around as if I was a bird or a squirrel. Yes, I was a strange child.

Looking at myself these days, I wonder how I ever got up into a tree like that, but we all do things at that age that we cannot do at my age. Did I mention I climbed poles too?  If my Mom didn’t find me in the trees, I would be on top of the clothesline pole.

Yes, she did have my IQ tested in first grade. I was normal. ( Or as normal as I was going to be.)

Trees - Nature's Heart & Soul

My Fascination With Trees

I have always thought trees were so strong and bigger-than-life. They were so tall and silent and seemed to be a guardian of some kind. If I got up into the tree, I was “tall” and way above the others down there. It is hard to even remember the reasons why I did that. I guess I will never know. I climbed because it was there.

But trees are special and I still feel that way today. There are so many kinds of trees over the world that the possibilities of finding all kinds of uses, purposes, etc for a tree and what it brings us are limitless, beyond its strength and endurance and the abundance of products it provides.

The Guardians of the Trees

I feel a sense of wonder just looking at a large and gnarled tree. It is like looking into its heart and soul and seeing all that the tree has done since it was a mere sapling. There are trees in our forests around here that are said to be over five hundred years old. At the Sugarcreek MetroParks near here. there are the Three Sisters Trees. It is awesome to see how big these oaks are. A photo doesn’t do them justice.

Trees - The Heart & Soul of Nature

Those of you who have traveled and seen the Sequoia and Redwoods of the Northwest, and Baobob trees in Africa and Austrailia. Yes, on my bucket list.  I can only imagine what that must look like and how awe-inspiring it would be to see them.  Someday I may get to go there and see these trees and all the wonders of the world that I have yet to see.  Like I said, Bucket List!

Standing steadfast against the force of water

In ancient times, some trees were almost worshiped as having powers that seem unimaginable to primitive man. Didn’t the branches lift all the way into the sky?  And didn’t the roots go farther than you can dig into the ground? Did the roots reach into the Underworld?

The tree had great power. It “died” in the winter, but came back to life in the spring, right? Or so it seemed to the primitive societies. I wrote a little about that idea in my post about Mistletoe.

And what does a tree provide for us?  Shelter in the heat of the day with its shade. It provides wood for us to build a fire and cook our food. It provide lumber to build a home or its branches can build a thatched structure.  We heat our living spaces with the wood, our furniture is built from wood. Our paper towels and tissue paper is a by-product of wood……And we are fed from a tree: fruit and berries and all sorts of nuts. Maple syrup, and coffee?

What about latex? Be very glad that you are protected from contamination by gloves when you visit the doctor or dentist.  Having some chocolate for a treat?  Thank a tree.  And that cork in your wine bottle? Yep.

How many trees become musical instruments ? Those sounds emanating from these instruments are partly due to the special nature of the wood from which they’ve been made. Here is some theory about  Stradivari’s violin.

Trees - the heart & soul of Nature

And the ugly burl on a tree, in some instances, can be cut away for its beautiful veining made into veneer for furniture or luxury cars, among other applications. Oh, so many wonders in the tree. Surely anyone would love trees. ( A burl is almost a wart-like thing growing on a tree and can be several feet tall and wide. It is said that some growing very uniformly are the ones sliced and made into veneers.)

Burls on Osage Orange(1)

It is no wonder that the tree holds a special meaning to us.

There is the beauty of a tree in full bloom in the springtime. And it is also lovely in the fall when it is ablaze with color.  And we all can appreciate the beauty of the tree in winter, coated in a blanket of wet snow. It is so pretty, almost like a Christmas card, right?

Next time you are out and about and see a tree, think of what that tree does for you. Why even the oxygen you breathe comes from the trees. Appreciate and protect them for our future generations.  Why not plant a tree on Arbor Day! Check out the deals here. The Tree Center

We don’t want to live the story in [easyazon_link identifier=”0394823370″ locale=”US” nf=”y” tag=”thehypegard0d-20″ cart=”n” cloak=”n” localize=”y”] The Lorax [/easyazon_link], do we?

We must “speak for the trees.”

affiliate disclosure updated
 

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.