Old trees can easily conjure up memories of times past. Covered with lichens, mosses and fungi, they are witnesses to history, quiet observers of human events and animal activities. Their silent demeanor makes them privilege to secrets told beneath their branches. Perhaps it’s because we expect trees to know so much that they spark our imaginations.
A favorite book from my childhood was The Faraway Tree Adventure by Enid Blyton. (My copy was the french translation: DEUX ENFANTS DANS UN SAPIN). The story involved the magical encounters experienced by two children who follow an elf up a tree. My imagination was sparked by the idea of a tree so wonder-full that it could act as an enchanted gateway to other lands and fairy folk.
Between every two pines is a doorway to a new world.
~ John Muir
Two spruce trees I recently saw standing side by side in the forest reminded me of that magical tree I had read about years ago. They were wrapped up in mist and entwined in each other’s branches, still erect while others of their size were overturned by strong winds.
Their older lower branches were bare of needles but looked strong enough for climbing. As a child, I’d always been unable to reach the lower branches of the trees I believed held magical worlds in their canopies. At what age do we stop trying to climb up trees?
The magic that eluded us as children because we didn’t have arms long enough to reach the next branch, eludes us once again in adulthood as we become more and more attached to safe ground. The trees must find us odd indeed, but in their wisdom, say nothing.
What tiny creature do you suppose lives in that hole among the roots?
In the tradition of She Said, She Said, Sybil of Eastern Passage Passage has also written a post about these same trees. You can find her post here along with marvelous close-ups of the wonderful worlds she captured with her lens.
Oh THAT’s what we were going to call our posts. She said, she said.
I’d love to go tree climbing with you but alas my knees would have something to say about it. I’d happily give you a BOOST if you like …
Yes Sybil, that *was* what we were going to call them 🙂
That’s too bad about your knees. I guess I’ll have to go climbing with the squirrels instead 😉
We (74, 63) still want a treehouse but haven’t built it yet. Magic trees, indeed. Thank you!
Pamela, my husband built a wonderful two-floor treehouse for our boys when they were young. It blew over (along with the 3 trees it was built around) during a hurricane.
I hope you both get your treehouse while you can still climb up to it. Wouldn’t it be a wonderful place to enjoy happy hour at the end of the day?
I breathlessly read this post with memories of special trees clamouring in to listen. No wonder you are a fan of the elderberry Solstice eve fairy myth. (Excuse me, probably not a myth–but it’s a myth until that King of the Fairy talks to us. grin!) I grew up climbing apple trees and sitting in their welcoming branches. My friend Carol and I were sitting in an apple tree when she told me her first period had begun. (Gosh, where did that memory come from right now and why??) I felt so envious and so young. She was seven months older. My friend, Melinda, sleeps outside in the summertime in a tree house she built in front of her house. She slept with her arms around her baby goat once. Magical moments… thank you so much for this today, Amy-Lynn.
Kathy, I do think the stories we read as children feed our imaginations as we get older. To me, trees and faeries go together.
Would you believe I now have several elderberry trees growing in my backyard? They seem to have sprung up out of nowhere. I wonder if I wished them into existence.
Trees are witness to so many conversations between friends. Your friend Melinda is going to have to have you over for a sleep-over. I love baby goats. They are so cute and playful. No wonder children are called ‘kids.’
I love trees they are so mysterious and magical. I climb trees when I have to get my kids out of them. I cried when we chopped a bunch of trees in our yard, to clean things up, one was too close to the house. I like your perspective of the upward looking tree. Always wanted a tree house. Thanks for sharing.
Martina, it’s amazing how attached we can become to trees. The time to build a tree house is now while you AND your kids can both enjoy it.
Wonderful pictures! Trees do have such a magical and wise energy. I spent a good portion of my childhood in a hemlock tree near our house. Sometimes I wonder if I could still climb a tree – and one day it would be nice to take one of those tree canopy walks…
Barbara, I would LOVE to take one of those tree canopy walks or go along a foefie slide among the trees.
Hemlock trees can grow so old. I wonder if the one from your childhood still remembers you.
I had to look up foefie slide – yes! That sounds fantastic!
Sadly, my beloved tree is slowly dying – it is infested with the hemlock woolly adelgid insect. But I do visit it when I can, soaking up the energy it still offers me. I’m sure it remembers the little dreamer who sat in its branches for so many hours at a time in years gone by.
http://www.na.fs.fed.us/fhp/hwa/
Scientists say that early man was a creature of the grasslands, but I think there are earlier echoes that stir us when we experience great trees.
Artistatexit0, I agree. There is something about trees that makes them kindred to the world of men.
Hi Amy-Lynn,
I think there is a little Nova Scotian vole living in that hole. I can just see his little nose poking out. It must be warmer now, as I don’t see any snow! Love the trees, I have endless shots of old trees from ancient woods over here. I wish I knew how to figure out just how old some of our massive oaks are. I think you and Sybil better come over and we can try to figure it out together….aye?
Lynne, a little vole? Quite possibly 🙂 It is warmer but Sybil was still in her down coat on our walk in the woods today.
Not knowing the age of some of these trees only adds to their mystery. The only way to know for sure is to cut them down and count their rings: knowledge that’s definitely not worth the price.
Rather than physically climb the trees, I prefer to look at them them – I seem to climb higher that way; all the way to the top and beyond.
The birds are everywhere now, and I love to watch the trees come alive with their flutterings.
Aubrey, your approach sounds ideal. Falling out of trees is no picnic.
The birds are everywhere here too. What did the woods ever do without them?
There is a project you will find very absorbing, Amy Lynn.
(And you too Sybil!)
It is the Archangel Ancient Trees project. Here’s the NYT take on the effort:
Here’s the Archangel website
http://ancienttreearchive.org/
which alas, I cannot visit from sloooow dialup at home, but the wilds of Nova Scotia are much more advanced than the wilds of northern Michigan.
Gerry, thank you so much for the links. That is SO cool. The images of those ancient trees are stunning.
Great photos. So nice to read that You remember Enid Blyton. When being a child I climbed in trees very much. Spruce was one of my favorite tree, because I could come down using its branches by sliding.
I yet today read old books. A month ago I finished 14 books by Zane Grey. He is my favorite writer and yet today I love his books
Happy week-end!
Sartenada, old trees and old books give us so much joy. I’ve never read Zane Grey but know that his books are popular on this side of the Atlantic too.
For a few years when I was little, my family lived in a little red brick house in Belleville, Ontario. In the yard there were three mature maple trees where I spent a large part of my time, nestled into a secret hideaway among the branches or swinging through them like a monkey. Thanks for bringing back these wonderful memories.
PS I still climb trees. 🙂
Cindy, those maple trees must have provided such a wonderful loft from which to view the world. I wonder how many fewer children being raised today will grow up without memories of personal relationships with trees in their backyards.
It’s good that you are still agile enough to climb trees. But the real question is: do you still swing through them like a monkey 😉
Unfortunately, I now hang on with both hands for dear life – but man, it’s tempting! 🙂
My son (9 years old) and I like to read before bedtime. We’ve done it for years. In all the books we have read the forest is always the scary evil place. It is always the “deep dark” woods. Everything bad happens in the forest. Weird.
Fortunately my father was of a different mind and took me to the forest to learn about it and enjoy it. I find it inviting and comforting among the trees – nothing better than leaning back against a tree trunk and letting the dappled sun play over my face as the leaves dance and sigh in the breeze.
MDW
Mark, I wonder if the authors who created such dark images of the forest spent much time there. Has your son tried the series of Magic Treehouse books? My grandson enjoys them immensely.
At what age do we stop trying to climb up trees?
That reminds me of a wish to climb a very old big banyan tree here… 🙂
Swaps, I hope you manage to climb your banyan tree some day soon 🙂
Trees. They have a world of their own. One we can look at from down under unless we are more adventurous. What is more enchanting than standing under a tree and getting lost in its canopy ? My favourite trees are the birchtree and larchtree. But I love them all for the peace they seem to bring around them, and the life too. Think of the birds inhabiting them !
I remember this book collection and Enyd Blyton. The joy of reading and then telling the story to my little sister. I remember the story of a tree “Leonard’s Tree”. My sons could tell you how many times – and how differently – I read this story to them 🙂
Thanks again for your wonderful thoughts and pictures.
Isa, you would enjoy seeing all birches and larches here in Nova Scotia too. There are many white and yellow birches and the tamarack larches are especially plentiful in the boggy places.
It’s amazing how these books helped to spark our imaginations and our love of trees.
Where aaaaare you? I miss your beautiful nature posts. )= Hope it is just because summer has you under her spell. 😉
Hi Adrienne, I seldom leave Nova Scotia 🙂 Hope you enjoyed a magical summer.