I woke up with Trees on my mind for a number of reasons. As a writer and avid reader, that made me think too of Ents. Ents being characters in J.R.R. Tolkein “Lord of the Ring” books. They are slow talkers, and fierce fighters. They are a favourite character in my household too.
My youngest daughters say that my Beloved K. is like an Ent. He is a softer spoken Soul, and He takes his time in many things. I respect Him greatly, admire His ways of being, and learn from His thoughtful ways. He is one of those few and far between, a truly Honourable Man.
He and I share a love for, as well as a need for Nature. And those grand Guardians, the Trees. I look forward to the day I get to show Him the Live Oaks of my area of the Deep South. When He drives us along the Canopy Roads and we are enveloped in the beauty. I am awed by Trees, I love Nature. (I could skip the bugs though)
I look forward too to the time He and I find Our Forever Home, or have it built as we dream of doing. I have always wanted to plant a Gingko tree. They take a long time to grow, not as long as a Oak… but long enough in human years.
Trees speak to me. Deity speaks to me in the woods. Nature is more my church than anywhere else. The Earth is my altar.
Oregon is a Shared Dream now with my Beloved and my youngest daughters. (They are now 25 & 18) We talk of Possibilities, and encourage them in their Aspirations, Dreams, and their Gifts too. Both are Creative Souls. We are all of us Creative in one area or another. And yes we are all of us Tree Huggers. Some of us quite literally!
Oregon is a land of trees, it is truly chock full of natural beauty. I believe that I will thrive there. Oregon has spoken to me, called to me, and has been my dream for 2 decades. Time to get my body there Sooner rather than later. Time too to roll up my sleeves and work harder. So I will.
I need and want to sink some deep roots, as the ones I have here in this place are shallow roots. I live here, I do so as mindfully as possible. I am Present in Each Moment, but this has never truly been my Home.
I live each day with joy. Even the harder or hellacious days, as for me being alive is counted as joy. Trees are a part of my joys, or life’s simpler pleasures.
I grew up surrounded on 3 sides with Australian Pines. The wind in the tree tops sand or crooned a often eery tune. Then I moved to the Northern part of the state and fell in love with the Live Oaks. Crepe Myrtles, Dogwoods, Japanese Magnolias, Pecan trees, and more. Spring is amazing here.
I will miss the trees, but never the heat and humidity that is this area. Nor the pollen that is sure to set off headaches for me and mine. It coats the cars and anything stationery for a few hours each spring with a layer of yellowy-green.
I will learn about the trees in Oregon. I will seek to only have trees and plants native to that fine state. I do not want to muck about with invasives. They have ruined many places; as folks miss the trees, flowers, and/or plants of their “home” state… so they bring them in, and there goes the ecosystem. So foolish.
Trees are friends from childhood too. Many a day I leaned into the curves of them as a girl, scribbling in my notebooks or drawing. I talked to trees since my earliest recollections. I felt bad for the ones cut down. I still talk to trees, and as a witch I hear things others do not have “the ears to heart”. Nature speaks, and honestly one does not need to be a witch to hear or to listen. Nature is many persons deity and/or church.
Someday my Beloved K. and I will be married under the trees. They will stand as witnesses on that special day. Nature as “church”, the trees, and family… with us standing under them (the trees I mean).
Hand in hand, heart-joined We will start a new chapter.
Perhaps those trees will share Our Love Story with others, if they have the ears to hear, and are quiet so as to listen.
Trees do not shout usually. That is why I like to walk in silence or talk in whispers whilst in the woods. The better to hear what the trees, Mom Nature, and Her creatures are saying. A reverence for trees has always been in me. It stands to reason my Beloved would be another who loves and reveres these Living Witnesses.
“To be poor and be without trees, is to be the most starved human being in the world. To be poor and have trees, is to be completely rich in ways that money can never buy.”
- Clarissa Pinkola Estés, The Faithful Gardener: A Wise Tale About That Which Can Never Die
“Hug a tree, they have less issues than humans.” - Unknown
Trees have so much they can teach us. There are stories in trees. Trees are living beings in my thinking. They have spirits. Some are spirits IMHO. In my Spiritual Path as well as my Celtic ways of Being, the trees are to be respected, to be cared for, and to be learned from. I was taught as a girl we could find “god” in the forest. One of the few good things I learned from my father, as well as a good memory.
Trees are so much More than I have touched on. Anyone with a bit of sense knows we need the trees to live on this planet. So plant a tree, do some good, get back to simpler times and lifestyles. Reduce-Reuse-Recycle. Every little bit helps.
Shine Dark,
Starra
