“Forest Bathing”, watercolor painting, 7in x 5in
To stand amongst mature trees in the forest can feel very grounding; it reminds me of endurance, rooting, and persisting in one place for many decades. This red oak tree, along with many other trees have lived here in this forest for over 100 years.
The deeply cracked bark of this red oak tree indicates its age and acts as a suit of armor, protecting from unwanted insects and disease. The oak trees wide and expansive canopy provides wonderfully filtered sunlight below for life below and helps to cool and protect the forest floor.
Trees are invaluable to human kind for many reasons, and there are many people (Robert Frost, Henry David Thoreau, and contemporary Peter Wohlleben) who spend their lives protecting, learning from, and admiring trees and forests around the world. I once stumbled across a carved sign in a forested area of the U.S., with a beautiful poem. Although unattributed on the sign, I later looked it up to find out it was originally written in Portuguese, by Alberto de Veiga Simoes, and was displayed on the grounds of a castle in Lisbon, Portugal. (Article: National Tree Week)
“Prayer of the Woods:
I am the heat of your hearth on the cold winter nights,
the friendly shade screening you from the summer sun,
and my fruits are refreshing draughts quenching your thirst as you journey on.
I am the beam that holds your house, the board of your table,
the bed on which you lie, and the timber that builds your boat.
I am the handle of your hoe, the door of your homestead,
the wood of your cradle, and the shell of your coffin.
I am the bread of kindness and the flower of beauty.
Ye who pass by, listen to my prayer: Harm me not.”