About me

THE beech tree flower that started all this.

I know. There are a gazillion bloggers out there with a gazillion more blogs available to read. There are loads dedicated to trees and written by people who are much more knowledgeable than me, but I have an obligation to write this for a couple of reasons.

My first reason is that I really love trees. I find everything about them fascinating and I plan on creating a repository of all manner of weird and wonderful bits of information as well as news stories and proper information about the trees that I live near.

Secondly, I kinda promised a big beech tree that I would do something. I know that this sounds like an completely unhinged thing to say (and do!) but hear me out.

Once upon a time I was better at jogging than I am now and my favourite mile and a bit was on the paths that ran the perimeter of my local park. Every time I got to the Kirk Dam part of the path, I would high five a large cedar tree that grew on the sloping banking of the dam. I loved the resinous scent that it left on my hands, even after my post-jog shower. 

Anyway, one day, a couple of years ago, I was jogging or walking (can't quite remember how puffed out I was on this particular day) and I was half way along the path that runs across the top of the dam when I realised I hadn't high fived my woody pal. I turned back to see what had happened. Reader, the tree was gone.

I skittered down the banking a little and there in the long grass was the stump. The perfume filled the air around it and I felt a rush of grief. Totally unexpected. Totally embarassing.

I got back up onto the path and headed for the rickety little bridge that spans the dam overflow. And there were the men, chainsaws in hand, protective helmets on, getting ready to cut down the weedy self-seeded trees that were now somehow in the way of some grand plan somewhere. I managed to jog back to the safety and privacy of my home before sliding down behind my front door, a sobbing wreck. 

The loss of that tree particularly had a profound effect on me. It woke me up to trees. REALLY woke me up to trees. Until that point they were lovely, but fairly interchangeable green things that kept me from overheating when I jogged or dropped their leaves in the autumn for me and the dog to scuff through.

A month or so after The Great Tree Chop, I was walking my greyhound (Nero, my first rescue greyhound) and took refuge from a sudden cloudburst under the substantial canopy of a huge beech tree in the park. In my new woke state of mind, I had already established that this tree predated the park and the girth of it suggested that it could date back to the 17th century - Outlander times! 

Anyway, this beech tree had become my favourite tree and I often paused on my dog-walking to give it a hug under the pretence of retying my shoe lace. This particular day, I stood looking out at the wet park, grateful for the shelter when I noticed the remains of a beach flower - not yet plumped up with seeds - in the air in front of me. Eye level. Not attached to the tree. Just hanging there. In the air. On its own.

I did the old 'magician's assistant' trick of passing my hands over it, behind it, either side and under it and could not for the life of me work out how it could be just floating there in the air. The rational part of me concluded that it must have some spider web thread anchoring it to a higher branch that I just couldn't see and had missed with my wafting hands. I stood looking at it in disbelief for a good few minutes before - I shit you not - it started moving towards me. It landed on the collar of my jacket.

By this time all the hairs were up on the back of my neck. Remember that scene in avatar? That was ME! 

I carefully picked off the little flower and put it in my pocket. I felt as if I'd had some kind of supernatural encounter. I hesitate to write this, but it was like .... a religious experience. As though I had been chosen by the beech tree to do something, but what? 

Of course, I did absolutely nothing. Because I'm not a lunatic. 

But the urge to do something about trees remained there, in the dimly lit corner of my mind. Something that might help wake people up to the trees in their own community? The trees in my own community? 

Honestly, I have no idea what I should be doing. But my solution was to create a blog. 

So here we are.