The spirit of trees

Many winters and summers had passed over the years, seasons like the sands of time to a human and standing as still witness to it all were the trees of the earth.

Like quiet guardians of natures essence, they had stood since before the beginning of time, from the smallest hedge and shrub, to the mighty strength and majesty of the oaks and the giants redwoods.

As numerous as the grains of sand on a beach and as unique as the sunsets at days end, trees were masters of the earth,

lords of patience, for they were in no hurry to grow, indeed the trees were content to stretch out their leafy branches at a leisurely pace, becoming home to many of the worlds smaller creatures and spirits children, as the earth was home to the human race, so were the trees to some of the tiny creatures of nature.

Every season brought the chance to release new seeds into the air, to start things anew, as the winds would carry these seeds over the land to fall to the ground.

Like dreams, some of the seeds would fall in fertile ground and begin again the cycle of life, extending tiny roots out into the moist depths of the earth and growing into the smallest seedling and from there, into some of the most beautiful trees that we have seen.

Others would land in arid soil and for them, there would be no new life and growth, like some dreams, they were short lived, a fleeting memory in the life of the earth.

For some, there would be new life within the company of man.

The Oak tree had stood for some 86 years now at the bottom of the garden, its mighty girth telling of years of slow and steady growth.

Silent witness to the family that owned the house at the other end of the garden, the mighty oak had watched over 3 generations of the family and now was being witness to the birth of the 5 th generation,

Many changes had taken place around the tree and many events in the lives of the humans and changed the way that they think and did things since the tree was but a young sapling in the early stages of its life.

Bourne by the winds of a storm, out of season, the seed had travelled many miles across the land to fall in the soft dirt at the bottom of the garden, to begin its new life, lovingly tending by the 5 th generation of the homestead family, it grew protected from the ravages of the winds and the creatures of the earth.

As years past, it became the playground for many of the younger children who played at the bottom of the garden and swung in its branches, the sounds of young laughter filling the air as they scrambled over limb of wood and race around deeply sunk roots in the moist soil.

Witness to tears of a teenager’s broken heart, the soft voice of a budding singer at practise, many seasons of work in the garden, plantings and harvests of the crops and the passing of generations.

Her branches had grown strong and supple, supporting the nests of birds as they would build homes for their young,

and in later years, one of her lower branches were supporting a simple rope swing that provided many hours of enjoyment for the children.

The rules of the tree were simple, the family had a agreement that nobody was to take a axe, saw, hammer or nails to the tree and before they did anything to or with the tree, they were to ask permission of the tree first and wait for a response.

This was abided by in accordance to the wishes of the father of the 6 th generation of the family, each succeeding generation passing down the law of the oak to the new generation and teaching them of the respect of nature and how nature would respect them.

12 years had passed now since the birth of the first child of the 9 th generation of the family and again, the tree was witness to the growing up of yet another child.

The spades sharp edge dug deep in the earth and a grunt followed as it was lifted up and turn over, dumped and broken up with a few swift strikes of the spade as john continued the slow and steady work of turning over the garden in preparation for the new seasons plantings of vegetables and herbs for the family table.

37 years old and solidly built, john was continuing the traditions of his family, sandy blonde hair and a soft layer of hair along his lower jaw line, john was a mildly good looking man, squared shoulders and a deep chest told of many hours working with the land and with a nature green fingered love of nature, john was a well respected member of the community.

And on this day, john and Sam, his 12 year old son were out in the garden, working away in the soil, john digging up the earth and breaking it up , Sam was raking it out to a level of evenness, sweating was dotting their brows as they worked.

John reached the end of the row and stopped to lean on the handle of his spade, surveying the vast spread of garden that lay at his feet, it took a few minutes more for Sam to reach his father and he, in turn stopped and rested, watching with john, as birds swooped down from the branches of the oak tree to grab worms from the top of the garden and fly back up to their nests in the tree.

While the two stood there, johns wife, Debbie, emerged from the back porch of the house, carrying a tray of drinks and cookies in her slim hands, smiling as she made her way down to a shady patch under the branches of some trees.

John smiled at his son and said right, time we had a break, no point in wearing ourselves out before the job is done.

They had sat for a few minutes before Sam spoke, dad, can I build a playhouse in the oak tree?, john replied, I can’ t see a prob, just remember to ask for permission first, from the tree before you do, and I reckon you will have a awesome playhouse.

sam said thanks to his father and sat for a few moments pondering what john had said about asking for permission before he built the playhouse, why ask permission of a tree that couldn’t understand what you were saying anyway.

right john said, I reckon we have done enough for today and you can get started on your playhouse if you want, I have a few things to get from town and I will be away for a while, but there is wood in the back shed and nails in the workshop,

just don’t forget to ask for permission to built first.

sam was too deep in thought about the awesome playhouse that he was going to built, to pay any heed to his fathers strange words and he was eager to get started on his project.

3/4 of a hour had passed by the time that Sam had gathered together the lengths of wood and a saw, hammer and nails

and the day was starting to draw to a end, as he drove home the last few nails in the bottom frame work of his tree house.

hearing his mother call out time for supper, john raced to put the tools back in the workshop and headed on inside to wash up, he walked up on to the porch and was about open the door when he turned for one last look at the tree, when he spotted a young girl in the branches of the tree, looking at him out of sad eyes, Sam stopped and blinked, but she was gone.

Sam happily told his father about how grand the playhouse was going to be, once he had finished.

john and Debbie smiled at john, well son, as long as you respect the tree, it will respect you too, just remember to ask for permission to do anything with the tree.

Sams dreamed that night, a strange dream about crying trees and young girls with sad faces, a unusual dream for him to have, Sam didn’t feel scared, just hurt and unhappy for some reason.

Early the next morning, Sam rose with a smile on his face and hurriedly got dressed, it was the weekend, no school and his father didn’t need him in the garden, a full two days to spend working for his playhouse.

After a rushed breakfast, it was out to the workshop to collect the tools and things that Sam needed to work on the workshop, it was a beautiful day, with the sun shining brightly, as Sam made his way down to the tree.

Sam had obeyed his father and not used any nails in the tree to hold the boards in place and the framework was still securely in place, the wood was waiting on the ground to be measured and cut for the frame for the walls and the roof.

Sam smiled and grabbed the bottom of the tree and started to climb up to the framework, but no matter how he tried, he could not seem to get anywhere, his feet couldn’t get a grip on the tree anywhere so he grabbed some boards and leaned them up against the truck but even that did not help, for every time placed his foot against the boards, they would slip off the truck and sam was no better off than before.

After half a hour of trying to climb up into the trees, sam stopped and took a break, standing a few feet away from the tree and wondered just how he was going to climb up into the tree.

john was watching from the kitchen and he could see sams struggle at the bottom of the garden, also he could see a young girl standing near the base of the tree, watching sam, and this young lady had a sad look on her face as she watched the events unfold in front of her.

a lesson was not learnt, I see, john thought to himself as he watched sam stop and stand by the trunk of the tree.

A few minutes later, john made his way down to the base of the tree and smiled at sam, how is it going, sam quietly replied, ok dad, its going ok, john nodded and smiled at sam, no problems then?, sam pulled a face, well dad, yeah, there is, I can’t seem to be able to get up into the tree for some reason.

John looked at the young girl standing a few feet away and then turned his attention back to sam, tell me son, did you ask permission of the tree first, before you began to make your tree house?.

sam stuttered a bit before answering, well nope i didn’t understand why i had to, so i didn’t ask a tree for permission to build in it, i can’t see why i need to ask a tree when it can’t hear me or talk to me.

John looked straight at sam and nodded, yeah I understand that, I did the same thing when i was your age too, son, I made the same mistake when my father told me the same thing.

you see, son, everything in the world had a spirit of life in it, us, animals, plants, streams and trees, everything is living and growing.

the whole world is one great big family and we need to respect everything as part of that family, do you understand what I mean?

sam answered slowly, so you mean that they can talk and listen like we do?

yeah, they may not speak in the way that we do but they do talk and listen, for they have feelings too and they do care and like to be cared about.

how you noticed that every time i go to turn the garden over after winter, that i spend a few hours walking around and over the garden , touching it and looking at it?

sam nodded, well son, I am talking with the spirit of the earth and listening to what i am told, that is how i know what to place in the ground, that is why i never use chemicals or sprays, and i only use natural compost and fertilisers, that is why we have such a good garden and we don’t have trouble with bugs or bad crops.

dad, I have noticed that the apple tree has beautiful apples every year but never anymore than we need.

yeah son, that is because I talk with the tree about the year to come and we have a agreement that we follow, and that comes from the fact we talk with each other.

When i said, ask the tree for permission to build in her branches, i was not joking, she has feelings and she likes to be respected, just the same as we do.

sam thought for a few minutes about how his father actually worked in the garden and realised that yes, his father spent a lot of time talking to himself out in the garden, or what seemed to be talking to himself.

son, give the tree a hug and say sorry to it then leave the tree for today and we can go into town for the day, we can go a few things for your playhouse that you will like.

sam hugged the tree and said sorry for my mistake of ignoring how you feel, i am sorry, but i didn’t understand how you felt about it, i was wrong and i hope that you will forgive me for my mistake.

There was no wind but as sam spoke out loud to the tree, with his arms around it, the branches shook, causing the leaves to rustle with a gentle noise.

it was a good day in town for sam and john and it was getting dark when they got home, but sam took the time to go down to the bottom of the garden and give the tree another hug and to say thanks for being so big and beautiful and thanks for the chance to say sorry.

Sams dream was a peaceful one, he was standing in a grove of immense trees and at the base of each of the trees, was standing a beautiful lady, garbed in soft, flowing green gowns

in front of sam stood a slender and awesome lady, who had by her side, animals of the forests.

sam, she said, I am spirit, and all the trees are my children, as are you too, love my family as they love you, you can have some awesome friends in nature, if you are friendly in nature.

all of nature works together like a close knit family, and they respect each other, that is how they live together in harmony.

it is a pity that man can not do the same but you can, sam, giving a simple thanks and asking for permission of others is the best way to gain true friendship.

sam felt tears well up inside of him as he felt drawn to spirit and the spirits of the trees, a deep rooted longing to be with long lost friends, spirit smiled gently, yes sam, you are starting to remember the bond that was forgotten and now remembered again.

sam was aware of another presence drawing close to him and he looked past spirit to see the young girl that he had seen at the bottom of the garden.

sam understood, she was the spirit of the tree at the bottom of the garden and she was waiting for sam to remember her, so that they could be friends again, to share the special bond between man and nature, that special respect and love that so many have lost in this day and age.

giving a tree a hug is not a sign of madness, trees have awesome energy and we can share that energy, they can share with us the energy of nature and we can return that by respecting and loving them as one of our family.

as humans enjoy sincere hugs and love, so does nature and animals, animals are not two faced, they love you or they don’t, it is up to you if you show them that you love them or not, live as simple as nature and you can enjoy the simplicity of loving in a simple way, with unconditional and pure love.

Love and respect of the little things in life is how we love to respect and love the greater things in life.

Sam built his playhouse, with the help of spirit and the spirit of the tree, and yeah, it was the best tree house in town.

many years, it stood, and many times were shared, sitting in the tree house, talking with spirit and nature, and sam learnt of the awesome secrets that mankind has forgotten.

such a simple lesson to learn and sam was so happy that now he had learnt to listen to the spirit of the trees.

the spirit of nature is also the spirit of man if when we forget to respect nature, we forget to respect others and ourselves.