TREES

When I bike into Ek Balam to recharge my computer battery and do Internet, I check the world news. On the return trip to the rancho, my mind is unsettled because of what I've read -- so many self-destructive decisions being made, so many hurtful things done and said. Back at the hut, I always sit awhile upon arrival, to regain my sense of peace and well being, looking at the trees around me.

For, there's something therapeutic in just paying close attention to a tree. I note its system of branching, the overall visual texture of its leaves, the interplay of light and shadow both when breezes stir and when it's calm. And see how the species arrange themselves in this forest community, some in thin clay soil around the hut atop the little mound, others in looser, deeper soil of the depression below, some only in the transition zone. Once you pay attention, there are all kinds of things to notice about a tree.

One reason that simply looking and thinking about trees feels good might be partially explained by this fact: Every tree is an incarnation of an inspiration so simple, so pure and so magnanimous that it harmonizes with our own most lofty, seldom attained aspirations.

Think about it: A tree is firmly rooted in the Earth but from the trunk spreads outward three-dimensionally, ever refining its substance into ever greater intricacy and complexity, thus modeling the general evolution of the whole Universe. Moreover, the tree stands there preying on no other being, but rather for its own growth it conjures from air and water the carbohydrate of its own body, using solar energy. And during this magical process, it even offers to everyone life-sustaining oxygen, free for the taking.

Also, there's this:

Just look at these trees. Around the hut most trees were cut a few years ago, then resprouted from roots and stems, so that now most individual trees are represented by two, three or more slender trunks. These trunks compete with one another for resources. Trunks facing openings receive more sunlight and are more robust, while those sprouting on the shady side are weak and more likely to be diseased and bug-eaten. Many trees show scars where winds and falling branches have broken and battered them. Sometimes there's just a stub left, where a thoughtless worker in passing cut the young sapling just to have something to do with his sharp machete.

This tree leaning gamely toward sunlight, but about to tumble from its own weight into the pit, is just like someone I know. And who doesn't recognize someone close like that sapling stub who simply had bad luck as the worker with his machete passed by?

In other words, all through the forest, one tree after another quietly chants the human-humbling truth that "What you are is mostly a matter of the circumstances of your birth, and what kind of luck you've enjoyed since then."

How like a human community is a forest of trees! And that's another reason why looking at trees might feel good: It feels like visiting family, like being with people you understand, and who know all about you. You may not like all that trees tell you about yourself and life in general, but you'll sense from the beginning that they're being honest. In today's world, that's worth something, too.

On and on I could go like this, but once you have the hang of looking at trees, you'll see for yourself that just turning your face toward them with your eyes open makes you feel better, no matter what the news says.