The Healing Power of Trees

I'm reminded of this lovely quote by Anne Frank..

'The best remedy for those who are afraid, lonely or unhappy, is to go outside, somewhere where they can be quiet, alone with the heavens, nature and God. Because only then does one feel that all is as it should be and that God wants to see people happy amidst the simple beauty of nature.'
 

I like trees. We live in a deep forest, and probably have thousands of trees on our land. The air is clean, and the "aroma" of the trees is far more pleasant than the vehicle exhaust that permeates most of the cities. Plus, with all these trees, I can find several which have died out every year, and I harvest them to feed our outdoor wood furnace....which cuts our electric bill by half, or more, every Winter.
 
What a remarkable photo! You looked happy there. I wonder how old the tree is? Maybe hundreds of years old? They say the older the tree, the bigger the base. Just curious.:)
Was a fine afternoon of fun indeed. Very well could be over a thousand years old. Their niche is at sunny bedrock locations other trees cannot grow at, often in rock cracks. As a landscape photographer (not career) I would post more photos on this forum were it not for the forum limitations. Forum image size is limited to only 800x800 pixels (fine a decade ago) and more an issue is the considerable compression that leaves images quite soft.

Posted an input today to Matrix to consider increasing maximum image sizes a bit with less compression.
edit update: have figured this issue out
 
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Was a fine afternoon of fun indeed. Very well could be over a thousand years old. Their niche is at sunny bedrock locations other trees cannot grow at, often in rock cracks. As a landscape photographer (not career) I would post more photos on this forum were it not for the forum limitations. Forum image size is limited to only 800x800 pixels (fine a decade ago) and more an issue is the considerable compression that leaves images quite soft.

Posted an input today to Matrix to consider increasing maximum image sizes a bit with less compression.
I can believe it to be that old! I noticed it didn't have land but looked rocky. Like I told another SF member, have you tried adding your photos to Unsplash.com? I have mine there and people can download them for free. Then you can just have a link to the photo there. Just an idea.
 
I've said many times that I walk the trails by the lake near our house. The trees are now changing color for fall, and I make a point of just looking up at them. It is very therapeutic.
 
This may or may not be pertinent to the topic, but the theme made me recall something.

Wrote this a couple months into cabin living;

A moment of reflection;

I've been struggling of late in being able to put my finger on how I feel these days.

We've been out here 40 days.

We've accomplished more than I thought we would by now.

My wife amazes me...daily.

I even amaze myself.

There's been a flow of activity as we both have our daily chores and our projects, some done alone, some together, but both of us resting (plopping into our camp chairs) together.

We talk together of us never being so happy, so fulfilled, so purposeful.

Yes, we both carry the scars of living, like the gnarled tree in this photo I took just this morning.
5FVmD7P.png


But like this tree, there's a renewal.

It's so very hard to generate a renewal when living in the hectic stream of town.
One thinks a good rest will do it, but I'll tell you now, I've kidded myself.
I've just maintained my sanity, and even that is questionable.

This place

This place..has given me a greater perspective of my wellbeing than I could ever muster within a dense society.

I'm not an outwardly religious guy, but if there is a heaven...I'd like to think it's like our little place...
Not some ethereal cloudy place, but a hands on, git dirty abode, a tangibly real place where you can see, feel, taste, smell the beauty of nature.....of God.

Yet, I have this niggling, this feeling of angst (?) that somehow, some way this prize will be taken from me.

A feeling that 'why do I get this?'...I certainly don't deserve it any more than the next bloke.

Surely God is giving me (us) a glimpse of what things could be like... should be like...


Maybe tomorrow I'll fall on a jagged tree spike and lie there bleeding my guts out while my woman is gleefully tending her garden.

Maybe today.

But

Right now

This moment

I have

Contentment

Like I've never known

Or even dreamt of
 
You have to admit that trees are essential for human life. I moved to a rural area, and cut down a lot, but thankfully I left most of the trees. I have over a 100 trees on my property. I wanted a 'park' like place. My neighbors have grass lawns. Grass lawn after grass lawn, after grass lawn. The guy across the street has a velvet green lawn, which he mows twice a week, and he's out there fertilizing, etc, all the time. I've come to see lawns as dead zones. Personally, when I pull into my driveway, and see the trees that I have lived with for decades, I'm home.
 

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