June 13, 2023
Have you ever seen a tree raining on itself on a dry day? Neither had I, until a couple weeks ago. And no, I wasn’t in a rain forest – I was right here in the Bay Area.
Except that, in a way, I was in a rain forest. I was hiking with friends at Indian Tree Open Space Preserve in nearby Novato, and near the summit I decided to relieve myself outside of a fairy circle of redwood trees. When I was done watering the tree, I stepped into the redwood circle and placed my hands on one of the tree trunks to express my appreciation for the beauty and the towering magnificence of this living creature.
As I looked up the trunk toward the sky, I was astonished to see a waterfall of scores of droplets bouncing all the way down the tree mast and splashing on my face. Each water drop bounced many times on its long journey down the bark before blessing the ground or my face with its wetness.
Coast redwoods are known for capturing cloud and fog moisture and sending the drippings down to the forest floor. And these woods and I were at the top of a ridge with a marine layer overhead. But I had never taken the opportunity to slow down enough to experience some extended moments in the life of one of these giant beings.
Redwood groves are not as widespread in northern California as they once were. Even so, as a Bay Area native I have tended to take them for granted, even when hiking among them. But my awareness of trees in general, and redwoods in particular, is starting to change.
Two books about trees that I’ve read recently have raised my consciousness about the importance of these life forms to our physical and mental health.
The first is The Overstory, a novel by Richard Powers, in which he introduces the reader to several very different characters living in various parts of the U.S. Toward the end of the book, some of these people meet one another as they are each drawn for diverse reasons to the same gathering of protesters who are trying to prevent the clearcutting of an ancient redwood forest in northern California. The author’s love for these conifers, and for all trees, is palpable, as he suggests that trees are intelligent beings that are being slaughtered by greed and by the human desire to dominate and subjugate other life forms.
As Richard Powers said in an online Conjunctions magazine interview:
“The salvation of humanity – for it’s us, not the world, who need to be saved – and our continued lease on this planet depend on our development of tree consciousness. We are here by the grace of trees and forests. They make our atmosphere, clean our water, and sustain the cycles of life that permit us. Just begin to see them. See them up close and personal. See them from far away across great distances. Notice all the million complex beautiful behaviors and forms that have always slipped right past you. Simply see, and the rest will begin to follow. Every other act of preservation depends on that first step.”
The second book that in the last few weeks has inspired my sense of wonder about trees is one written by the noted Irish botanist Diana Beresford-Kroeger. It’s her autobiography, entitled To Speak for the Trees: My Life’s Journey From Ancient Celtic Wisdom to a Healing Vision of the Forest.
This extraordinary woman was orphaned at age 11, raised in the city of Cork and in the Cork and Kerry countryside by loving relatives who encouraged her love of books and science and taught her the old Irish knowledge of medicinal plants. She has gone on to write a number of books about nature and science, and she wrote and appeared in the documentary, Call of the Forest: The Forgotten Wisdom of Trees (http://calloftheforest.ca), which was based on her book The Global Forest. As she said in her autobiography:
“I want to remind you that the forest is far more than a source of timber. It is our collective medicine cabinet. It is our lungs. It is the regulatory system for our climate and our oceans. It is the mantle of our planet. It is the health and well-being of our children and grandchildren. It is our sacred home.”
After a lifetime of hiking in the oak and redwood forests of northern California, I’m just starting to really see these beings for the first time. I may not be a tree hugger, but I’m becoming a major tree appreciator.
David Wigginton 