Amy's Discovery

This beautiful clear and warm January day found Amy and I walking about outside.  We ended our walk at the base of the southern edge of the gravel bank hill.  This area is out of the way and we seldom walk here.  A creeping berry vine causes frequent stumbles and occasional ankle scratches.  I have read about a plant called witch hobble.  The name sounds great so I likely incorrectly use it in expressing my dissatisfaction with tripping on our version of the plant yet again.

These three young oak trees closely spaced caught Amy's eye first.  She found their appearance unique but quickly looked away at the hemlock behind them.

The sight of this tree growing out of the side hill at an angle then going vertical was inspiring.  Then I heard of the reported energy transfer from tree to person if ones stands in contact with a tree.  Recalling reading about this phenomenon in Anne LaBastile's Woodswoman books, I remembered that I formerly stood inside a crevice in the trunk of a massive red maple whenever I was near that tree.  A few minutes surrounded by that maple tree always make me feel better.

Stripped of its dead wood skirt, the tree was ready for us.  Becky went first.  All of the time she spends in the pool shows obvious benefit as she is relaxed in contact with the tree trunk from her head to her heels.  Tense me was unable to push my head back far enough to contact the tree.  That is a goal that I will work toward.

Only one of these hands is mine.  We cannot say with certainty if what we felt came from the tree or our touching fingers but we definitely felt something.

Close contact with the tree comes with many sensations.  The scent of the hemlock is pleasant without being overbearing.  Somehow the strength of tree passes into the person.  This tree is but a short distance from the house and we will visit it often.  Its medicine is free.  There will be benefit to us if we simply believe that some of the tree's strength passes to us.  We can only hope that some of our negative energy does not harm the hemlock . It is a strong relatively young tree.  I think it can take it!