“I will wait here in the fields to see how well the rain brings on the grass.
In the labor of the fields longer than a man’s life I am at home. Don’t come with me. You stay home too.
I will be standing in the woods where the old trees move only with the wind and then with gravity.
In the stillness of the tress I am at home. Don’t come with me.
You stay at home too.”
-Wendell Berry
Tag Archives: trees
Nature Remains
“the bracing and buoyant equilibrium of concrete outdoor Nature, the only permanent reliance for sanity of book or human life.”
-Walt Whitman
“The trick is, I find, to tone your wants and tastes low down enough, and make much of negatives, and of mere daylight and the skies… After you have exhausted what there is in business, politics, conviviality, love, and so on — have found that none of these finally satisfy, or permanently wear — what remains? Nature remains; to bring out from their torpid recesses, the affinities of a man or woman with the open air, the trees, fields, the changes of seasons — the sun by day and the stars of heaven by night.”
-Walt Whitman
Become Whole Again
“Trees in particular were mysterious and seemed to me direct embodiments of the incomprehensible meaning of life. For that reason the woods were the place where I felt closest to its deepest meaning and to its awe-inspiring workings…The tree brings back all that has been lost through Christ’s extreme spiritualization, namely the elements of nature. Through its branches and leaves the tree gathers the powers of light and air, and through its roots those of the earth and the water… You must go in quest of yourself, and you will find yourself again only in the simple and forgotten things. Why not go into the forest for a time, literally? Sometimes a tree tells you more than can be read in books… ”
-Carl Jung
“Only when I walked into the forest did the world become whole again.”
-Lars Muhl
Speak, Listen & Learn
“Trees are sanctuaries. Whoever knows how to speak to them, whoever knows how to listen to them, can learn the truth. They do not preach learning and precepts, they preach, undeterred by particulars, the ancient law of life.”-Herman Hesse
Walk Slowly and Bow Often
When I Am Among the Trees (by Mary Oliver)
“When I am among the trees,especially the willows and the honey locust,equally the beech, the oaks and the pines,they give off such hints of gladness.I would almost say that they save me, and daily.
I am so distant from the hope of myself,in which I have goodness, and discernment,and never hurry through the worldbut walk slowly, and bow often.Around me the trees stir in their leavesand call out, “Stay awhile.”The light flows from their branches.
And they call again, “It’s simple,” they say,“and you too have comeinto the world to do this, to go easy, to be filledwith light, and to shine.”
-Mary Oliver
The Beauty of the Trees, The Softness of the Air
“The beauty of the trees, the softness of the air,…speaks to me.The summit of the mountain, the thunder of the sky… speaks to me.The faintness of the stars, the freshness of the morning… speaks to me.The strength of fire, the trail of the sun and the life that never goes away. They speak to me and my heart soars.”~Chief Dan George
They speak to me too…
Winter Wonderland
“we walkhand in handthe wind whippingaround us likea kind of magicshimmering off the branchesthe trees laced with snow,tiny dancers spring from the groundlike dust, tossedhere and there onthe wind …spinningtwirlingswayingto a song that onlythey can hearoh but how romanticdid they appearAnd yeshow it moved me …To each side of us,shimmering towers of whiterose reaching for the skyas if grasping for the hemof heaven itselfAnd herein this mystic place,time seemed to slowand the cold couldnot touch our soulnor pierce our heartsOur hearts, which walkedbetween the towers of iceand beat as one, unscathedby icy spells or bewitchedby the beauty of this enchantingforest, drifted away on a sea ofmesmerizing romantic possibilitiesin our very own winter wonderland”
-Michael Traveler, “Winter Wonderland”
Telling Secrets…
”Listen to the trees as they sway in the wind.
Their leaves are telling secrets.”-Vera Nazarian
My Your Heart Soar
“The beauty of the trees,
the softness of the air,
the fragrance of the grass,
speaks to me.The summit of the mountain,
the thunder of the sky,
the rhythm of the sea,
speaks to me.The faintness of the stars,
the freshness of the morning,
the dew drop on the flower,
speaks to me.The strength of fire,
the taste of salmon,
the trail of the sun,
And the life that never goes away,
They speak to me.
And my heart soars”-Chief Dan George
All of these moments that Chief George eloquently lists make my heart soar too! And my unbounded soaring heart is activated by all that surrounds me here – at home. Simple and sweet gifts of nature and love, and the “beauty of the trees and the softness of the air” touch me to my molecules.
May you feel your heart soar as precious moments compel your complete attention and are indelibly etched on mind and memory…
The Listening Heaven
“Trees are the earth’s endless effort to speak to the listening heaven.”
– Rabindranath Tagore