Go and look at flowers

Go and look at flowers

A wonderful story of a woman who decides her grandchildren need to spend more time looking at nature and talking to people.  I loved her humorous and decisive course of action and the fact that she was so loved by her family that they forgave her technological...
Firm friends

Firm friends

The blithe and luminous boy Goldmund arrives at the school which will be his home until he reaches adulthood, and feels reassured by two new friends.  Of course, his real friendship comes later, but I liked that the trusting child sees a tree as a potential friend, as...
Begin afresh

Begin afresh

A soughing sense of spring surging in the dense-leaved trees.   You can hear the branches, brushing against each other in the dancing breeze, whispering like a wish in your ear, enticing you to begin afresh, afresh, afresh. Yet still the unresting castles threshIn...
Teaching the tree

Teaching the tree

A step in the process of creation, where the Creator takes a moment to teach the tree its leaf.  They learned well, and this is the season we see them unfurl their lessons, each perfectly mastered. Everywhere he taughtThe tree its leaf.  Source: Ted Hughes,...
A great love

A great love

Hard not to love someone who is known, and even mocked, for his great love of trees and grass.   Gorky met many unusual characters in his childhood and thanks to his memoirs, they have not vanished without trace, but can be liked and admired by succeeding generations...
The naming of plants – I

The naming of plants – I

Spontaneously, during this period of self-isolation we have been walking (and in Luiz’s case, biking) more. We are surrounded by countryside and can walk or bike for hours barely crossing paths with others, and if so, at well over the required two metres....
Live to be ancient

Live to be ancient

Long live trees. I love this observation by a dendrologist who has brought to our attention the hidden life and communication of trees. I also love that trees operate on their own timescale and in so doing display an apparent disinterest in a ‘scientfically...
Of jam and idleness

Of jam and idleness

Maggie Tulliver is an adorable and vulnerable child, full of dreams, emotions and ideas, both affectionate and affection-craving. Here she loses herself in the freedom and joy of seesawing on a tree branch, with nothing in mind but ‘a vague sense of jam and...
On Arctic trees

On Arctic trees

An underlying condition of being able to live in the spirit of nuannaarpoq is resilience in the face of setbacks.  It’s a quality I particularly admire in people who manage to keep enjoying life and its finer moments even after suffering severe shocks and...
The advent of May

The advent of May

There was a time when I could half read poetry in various ancient forms of French, provençal or Occitan, at least enough to have the sense of their meaning and loveliness.  This is one I noted decades ago, which is no time at all if you consider that it dates from the...

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