Thursday, July 23, 2009

the woodlot


in the nearby woodlot are all sorts of trees, almost all deciduous. some of the older trees have developed really interesting shapes and quirky features that distinguish them from the rest of the woodlot. i love being in the woodlot alone. the plants and trees have a feeling about them.

here's one that has developed something of a little cup where i've seen squirrels and chipmunks come for a drink of the rainwater that gathers there. i expect that there used to be a branch growing out of this at one time and that somehow it broke off leaving this natural depression.



what's extra cool is that when you flip the image you see something of this tree-man's face!


i can't clearly articulate my love of trees. i appreciate them in all seasons . . .


for all sorts of reasons . . .


robert frost has a really lovely something to say about
a person's relationship with trees in his poem entitled "tree at my window". . .

tree at my window, window tree,
my sash is lowered when night comes on;
but let there never be curtain drawn
between you and me.
vague dream-head lifted out of the ground,
and thing next most diffuse to cloud,
not all your light tongues talking aloud
could be profound.
but tree, i have seen you taken and tossed,
and if you have seen me when i slept,
you have seen me when i was taken and swept
and all but lost.
that day she put our heads together,
fate had her imagination about her,
your head so much concerned with outer,
mine with inner, weather.

16 comments:

Delwyn said...

Hello Steven

I wonder about tree love too, from where did it come...I was raised on an 1/8th suburban block on the edge of the city, but I feel I belong in trees. I stroke their trunks, feel their leaves and talk to them, they have so many moods, and I think they are very adept at engendering moods in us.


I love the image of the bare trees in snow and also the trunks below it.

Thank you
Happy days

Aleks said...

Lovely!
One for you!

"THE MAGNOLIA

O flowers of the garden, of skilled and human care,
Sweet heliotrope, and violet, and orchid frail and fair,
Pour out your love to happier hearts; the woodland flowers for me,
The pallid, creamy blossoms of the dark magnolia tree!

I close my eyes; my soul lifts up to float with their perfume,
And dull the body lying in this narrow city room.
Again I am a happy child. I leap and joy to see
The great curved petals wavering slip from out the gleaming tree.

As holy grail, or pearl inwrought, or carven ivory cup,
They stand on bronze and emerald bough, and brim their sweetness up;
And underneath a happy child! --- O days that used to be!
In distant land, the flowers still stand upon the dark green tree."

by Mary McNeil Fenollosa
1865-1954
=======
Have a good day, :O)

steven said...

hi delwyn, i have been a city boy for much of my life as well and so woodlots and forests have always represented an escape / return (i'm not sure which). i love them in all seasons as my pictures attest but i think the autumn, when they change colours and the leaves fall in a high wind and i feel like i'm inside a kaleidoscope is my best time. have a lovely day. steven

steven said...

hi sandra, thanks for the lovely poem. there are magnolia trees near here and they are truly beautiful. the flowers don't last for long but they are incredible to see and touch. have a peaceful day. steven

ellen abbott said...

I love trees too. I grew up in a very woodsy area and spent a lot of time alone wandering around in it.

steven said...

hi ellen, do you have lots of trees where you live? because you're so much further south than i am, what kinds of trees grow there? have a lovely day, steven

ellen abbott said...

Oh yes, tons of trees. In my yard in the city...sweet gum, camphor, magnolia, pecan, crepe myrtle. In neighboring yards...sycamore, oak, red bud. At the country house...pecans, oaks, ginkos, crepe myrtles, magnolia, maples, yews, cedar, chinese tallows, rain tree, red bud. Pine trees in the area too, but not in my yard. Also cottonwoods. I couldn't even begin to list all the trees down here.

One of the things I enjoy when I travel is seeing the different trees, the ones that don't grow down here because it gets too hot.

Tess Kincaid said...

I also have a spiritual connection to trees and long to be surrounded by them. They give me a sense of comfort and security and on a different level than humans.

Your photos are heavenly and the Frost is one of my faves. Perfect post, Steven.

steven said...

wow ellen you're so lucky. a lot of those trees i've heard of but never seen. chinese tallow crepe myrtle. even the names are evocative!!!!
like you, i'm always on the lookout for different trees and plants when i travel. have a lovely day!

steven

steven said...

hi willow, i think that the first time i ever looked at trees differently and started to experience them differently was as a grade five boy after meeting the ents and huorns in tolkien's writing. then when i met ojibway people and learned about their understanding well i started to really pay attention! thanks very much for the generous compliments. have a lovely day. steven

Dan Gurney said...

Lovely. I feel honored to love in the city but encircled by trees. They are good company.

I really Frost's poetry! He managed to skillfully work rhyme into so many of his poems. The ABBA rhyme scheme in the Tree at My Window doesn't call too much attention to itself, but there it is.

The Weaver of Grass said...

I love all trees too steven. Each season I think that is how I love them best - in winter I love the bare shape against ploughed fields, in spring I love the new, clean growth, iin Summer I love the fullness of leafy lanes and in autumn there is the colour - which to choose? Luckily there is no need to - just love them all.

Reya Mellicker said...

Trees are the final evolutionary step in any environment. I think grasses are the first ... no ... maybe lichen or moss? Anyway, what's not to love?

Once upon a time we figured out that the tree is the deity in common to all species. Still sounds right to me today.

Great pictures and beautiful poem. Thanks.

steven said...

hi dan, it's almost the perfect compromise. in the city with big trees. reay's comment "what's not to love?" is so truthful. i'm always sad when a tree has to be taken down - rot, insects whatever. it's a loss. i agree with your estimation of frost's writing. clever beauty! have a peaceful evening. steven

steven said...

hello weaver! you know you're right of course!!! they're isn't a best time of year for trees. i think to be really clear - for me the whole of autumn is my favourite time. otherwise i can find all sorts to love about trees, regardless of the season. have a peaceful day. steven

steven said...

hi reya, thankyou for the thoughtful compliments. there's an amazing book by david suzuki and robert bateman called "tree". it tells the story of "a single tree from the moment the seed is released from a cone until five hundred years later, the tree lies on the forest floor as a nurse log." i read it several years ago and it's on my summer book pile. this time i want to read it with purpose. to really understand what it is about trees that makes them so central to life. because i agree with you it does still sound right to me today. have a peaceful evening. steven