A tree is a person to many of the aboriginal people of the world, each as different in tone, personality and behaviour as you and I.
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Walking around this mountain, I have got to know the trees and their moods. They are one of natures great shapeshifters, one moment a Gothic fantasy, the next a gentle sylvan bower under which to dream.
As I pass, I feel them reach out to touch, to sense, and to listen to the stories brought up from the village below. We are but a short paragraph in a long and rich history to these ancient people, yet they politely listen as would any tribal elder to the excited foolishness of the young.
Most days I will sit and visit with my favourite trees, listening and learning as they draw breath and light into those adamantine limbs.
I have learnt great stillness from my fiends the trees and today was no exception.
Thoreau had his favourites too:
“I frequently tramped eight or ten miles through the deepest snow to keep an appointment with a beech-tree, or a yellow birch, or an old acquaintance among the pines.”—Henry David Thoreau
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Photo courtesy of the author
About Neil Hill
Neil Hill is one of Europe’s top outdoor, wilderness and survival coaches. He believes that our modern disconnect from nature has led to many of our personal, physical and social problems. He has led courses into some of the worlds most hostile and wild environments. His passion is to reconnect people with their aboriginal roots in nature, enabling them to have adventures and experiences that unlock their massive potential, Neil is the founder of Rewilding Bushcraft.
