The Dragonfly Mother: O Holy Tree

I love this tree, the leaves are turning now and they are such beautiful colors. I'm looking forward to raking them up and then jumping into a pile of leaves!

Today I went looking for my "Hug Tree". Trees need love too, don't we all? I had a "Hug Tree" back in Oakland. Every time I walked by it, I would either hug it, or, if I was in a hurry, I would just say "hello" and send it my love. Admittedly, there were a few times I was "caught" by fellow hikers while hugging my tree, sometimes I got a smile, other times I got strange looks. It was my goal to not be embarrassed and be firm about my love for the trees. Yes, I am a tried and true tree hugger. Trees are wonderful.

What is it about the trees that I love? I feel calm after hugging a tree. More grounded. Sometimes, I put my ear up to the trunk and it seems like I can even hear a heartbeat. Maybe it's mother nature or a tree spirit, maybe it's the ongoing traffic vibrating through the ground, or maybe I'm going mad! I don't care, it just feels so damned good to hug a tree.

One of my favorite things to do when I'm hugging a tree is to look up! It reminds me of the bigger picture and of how small I really am!

When I hug a tree, sometimes I pretend my legs are roots, going deep into the ground, gaining stability. I feel the solidity of the trunk against my body, so strong and hard. Trees give me strength. Trees connect me with the ultimate mother, our earth. Perhaps that's one of the reasons I was drawn to our Orcas forest, to feel more connected with nature.

I love trees! There is so much to learn from them!

Trees are also flexible. Trees sway and bend in the wind, if they didn't they would snap and die, sometimes they do. There are times when life is tough and I tell myself, "Bend in the wind Jessica! Bend in the wind!" Trees are such an inspiration.

Sigh. Oh trees. And another sigh.

I took a reprieve from the bed today. I've been stuck in bed for the past three days with a injured back and this afternoon I decided it was time to take a gentle walk and get my circulation going a bit. What a perfect way to help with the healing process, hug a tree. Serafin joined me, we were off and on our own little mission to find our "Hug Tree". As you can imagine, we didn't end up hugging just one tree, we hugged multiple trees!

This was our first real hug tree, Serafin calls it "The Leaning Tree". I didn't want to tromp through the uneven field with my bad back, but Serafin talked me into it. She really wanted to hug this tree!

See! There she is, . . . my little tree hugger! Imagine how the world would be if we all just chilled the fuck out and hugged some trees! (Can you tell I'm a passionate tree hugging advocate!)

Another beauty.

Tromping back through the field towards our house, but I wasn't ready to go home yet, . . .

. . . there were more trees to hug!

Pippin followed along too! She's lost weight since we got here, all the fresh air and land to run on!

We headed off down our driveway and over to the road. In order to get home, we must drive 5 minutes up this gravel road. Part of the road goes through our property and up to the neighbors house. It's dreamy being surrounded by all this green.

All trees have spirits, some have faces too!

This one's my favorite. These were here when we moved in, we've found three so far, I'm on the lookout for others though.

Serafin had enough tree hugging and decided to go back home. "Bye Mom!"

And off into the woods I go! There are loads of deer trails around here, I keep trying to remember to bring my garden clippers to make the path a little cleaner and wider as I go. I find myself meandering through the forest quite a bit. The dogs go a bit crazy too, there are rabbits all over this land.