I’ve been thinking a lot about trees recently, specifically all the trees in the little mountain dell where I’m lucky enough to live. And when I say all the trees, I mean I can’t look out of any window in my house without seeing a tree or two. Or three. Or more. Douglas fir trees, cedars, maples, alders, hemlocks, silver firs, cherry, apple, two types of walnut, a Japanese white pine, a few sequoias – these are just some of the species that grow on our five acres. And as I’ve watched them grow, I’ve found myself reflecting on them as a metaphor for life.
I was extremely skittish when I first met my husband, and had no intention of setting roots. But one of the things he offered me was stability. My mind shied away from that offer, encouraging me to keep running from my past, something I made central to my first novel, but apparently my heart found it appealing. So I stayed. And discovered that setting roots actually suited me. Helped me grow. Thrive even.
So of course, every time I look out my kitchen window, and see these majestic life forms manifesting the power of stability, I can’t help but want to put them in my writing. But at the same time, I feel like the natural world around me touches me on so many sensory levels, I’m not sure I can squeeze all that into just a few sentences. I love trying, because it makes me feel like I’m out in the woods, with the trees, but I hesitate to share because what if I’m not getting it right? I was discussing this dilemma with my friend, Lisa, in Seattle last weekend. She looked at me, with her big, beautiful eyes, and said, “Oh but please keep trying. Because some of us don’t live with trees around us, and the closest we can come is to read about them.”
It was a wonderful, gentle reminder that the reason we write is not just for ourselves but for those who might read what we write. It encouraged me to want to share a couple of short pieces inspired by the trees around me. For Lisa, or for anyone who doesn’t get to live in the woods.
The first is a short passage from my new novel, describing the view from our sauna porch after a big rain.
“The storm was over and Joe and Lucy sat wrapped in towels, on the porch of the sauna, zoning on the moisture-laden trees in front of them. It was cold, and steam from their bodies wafted up past the flickering lights of the candle lanterns hanging from the log beam above their heads. The dogs sat on either side of them, their noses occasionally bumping the air above them in the interminable quest for passing scents. Lucy was lost in the drip, drip, dripping of accumulated rainwater coming from a thick patch of spongy moss on the trunk of a burly maple tree, while Joe was focused on the sporadic splashes from saturated lichen on a leaning length of vine maple. It wasn’t that they were seeing what they were staring at in the candlelit dusk of the evening, so much as hearing it. And in their post sauna, meditative states, it sounded like a rainforest rhapsody, with the creek to their right creating a constant bass, and the pop of firewood burning in the sauna stove adding occasional percussion.”
The second piece is a short poem.
Co-Dependency
Her arms twine tight around you
Like the blackb’ries on my tree
‘Sinuating, thorny vines
That latch tenaciously
I want to snip and yank and tear
To rid you of her brambles
Knowing you will flourish more
When thus you’re unentangled
But when I freed the silver fir
From that which stole its luster
It drooped and paled and fought for life
With all that it could muster
And so I learned relationships
Like berries on my tree
Are not always ‘bout strength and love
But co-dependency
I shared this with my writers’ group and some of them wanted to know what happened to the tree? I knew the tree had survived, because I see it everyday in my front yard, but until this question I hadn’t really considered exactly how well it had survived. So I went outside and really looked at it. As you can see from these photos I took, it’s not as tall as the two other silver firs planted at the same time, but it is nevertheless lush, darkly verdant and very healthy-looking. It’s thriving.
Musings from the Mountain 
That reminds me of something my acupuncturist once said; when she looked out her window during a storm, she saw the ground undulating where a single giant tree stood. She said that all the trees were slowly cut down one by one and that trees weren’t meant to be single standing hence the roots not being able to fully support the tree that was about to be ripped out of the ground. It was one of those moments where there is instant clarity. There were the images of that single tree, and then the forest of trees. I said, “Just like trees in a forest, we weren’t meant to stand alone.”
Even if you think you can’t squeeze it into a few sentences, yes I agree, “Oh but please keep trying.” I love this post!! Trees! Trees are the answer!!
Great perspective, Kate. Along those lines, I’ve often thought about how timber companies tend to kill off hardwoods in their plantations, in favor of the more merchantable conifers, and yet nature puts the hardwoods among the conifers to stop the spread of root rots. Nature is amazing; she always has a plan. Thanks for reading.