Gifts of the Trees
Published by Anne Altor on Jan 21st 2019
Take a moment today to appreciate a tree.
Choose a tree that has a presence in your daily life. Maybe one you've noticed but haven't given much thought to.Touch the tree.
Be present with the tree and aware of the tree's presence.
What gifts does this tree give to your every day life?
What would be different if this tree was not here? If this forest were gone?
Consider some of the gifts trees give every day:
Providing shelter and shade
Exhaling oxygen and orchestrating climate
Taking in carbon dioxide and transforming it into life (organic matter)
Cleansing the air and soil of pollutants
Filtering rainwater, holding soil and slopes in place
Protecting streambanks and shorelines
Providing food and homes for birds, mammals, fungi, insects, amphibians, and many other creatures
Giving their lives for our homes, books, clothes, furniture…
Providing peace, wisdom and inspiration
Listen to this tree. What do you hear?
Leave your thinking brain for a few moments and just feel. Listen with all your senses.
This tree is a being too, likely older than you, with a complex, interconnected life and awareness that we may not understand or perceive.
What can you each day to protect trees, which do so much for life on Earth?
Perhaps start by noticing and appreciating the many places trees appear in your everyday life, and how it feels when they are absent.
Take time to be with and listen to trees, in whatever way makes sense for you.
Learn more about trees and frests, by direct experience and through authors such as Peter Wohlleben, Robin Kimmerer and Suzanne Simard.
We can stand up for trees when they're threatened by "development." Consider finding your local land trust to learn about land-protection efforts in your area.
Notice and remember the gifts of the trees.
