TREE BATHING

Secret Life of Trees, chapbook by Martha Slavin

Though I love trees, I was somewhat skeptical when at a writers' retreat recently in Marin County, we were invited to go forest bathing. I'd first heard of the expression last summer from one of our nieces who lives in a large city and wanted to go tree bathing to reconnect with the natural world. Forest bathing or Shinrin-yoku became a Japanese practice in the 1980s when Japan included the practice in a public health program. The Japanese have studied the effects of a walk in the woods and the restorative value of being out in nature. We all know how soothing being in nature can be, but somehow in our busy, concrete-laden world, we sometimes forget to walk on the grass and take a deep breath.

I'm intrigued by the idea that trees talk to each other. I am not someone who has sought spiritual or mystical relationships with trees, but I am thrilled by the science behind how trees communicate with each other.  Research by Suzanne Simard at Yale shows that trees interact with the fungi in the ground and network with other trees in the neighborhood by exchanging nutrients and information about the family of trees around them. There are even trees called Mother trees, the oldest tree of a species who has the knowledge of the community of trees within its area.

I didn't expect much as we group of writers stood together at the top of a hill ready to experience forest bathing and write about it. We stepped on the well-worn path leading into a small wooded area. I find it hard to be mindful when I am not alone and conscious of others around me; but eventually, I settled down and noticed the forest. I saw a tunnel formed by the trees' branches bent low over the path to create a shelter. My eyes caught minute strands of spider webs connecting one tree to another. I only saw them because a slight breeze brought them to my attention as they floated in the air. I followed the fine lines from one tree to the next. Tiny spiders scurried along the lines to wrap up even smaller insects trapped in the webs. Birds, disturbed by our presence, chirped and flew from one perch to another. They wrestle pine nuts from the cones attached to the branches and trunks of Bishop pines along the trail. Flies or native bees swirled around me as I walked near them. Agitated, they darted from one tree to the next and buzzed around my head.

When I returned to the path's beginning, the ground spongy beneath my shoes, I spotted a circle of young pines and sat inside the circle with my back against one pine. I pulled out my journal and wrote the word "connections" while a breeze moved through the tops of the trees. I felt the tree shudder from the top all the way down to the roots of the tree, the vibrations thrumming through my back. I was surprised. I have never felt a tree move this way. I have never been so close to the heart of a tree.

Eco-printing of tree leaves

Read more about the communication between trees:

Suzanne Simard, Yale
https://e360.yale.edu/features/exploring_how_and_why_trees_talk_to_each_other

Read more about Tree Bathing:

http://www.shinrin-yoku.org/shinrin-yoku.html

Tree Bathing  QUARTZ
https://qz.com/804022/health-benefits-japanese-forest-bathing/

A LONG DRIVE TO A BEAUTIFUL PLACE

Along the road
small wonders.

Canadian geese saunter
across six lanes,
heads high.
No one honks.

A hawk
perched on a light post
above the freeway,
head turning back and forth.
Has he mistaken us for rabbits?

Carcasses
on the September highway:
tomatoes
spilling red.
A cat, raccoon, opossum,
two skunks, a deer,
red splatters of fur.
A splash of seagull feathers
against a fence.
Eco-batting,
torn open,
floating in the wind.
Strewn shirt, a pair of pants
in the gutter.
Who has lost their clothing?

Cornstalks
loaded in the open back
of a pick-up truck.
Husks waving in time
to Mumford & Sons
on the radio.

Bridges across the bay,
first one,
then another.

A long drive to a beautiful place.

PERSISTENCE

photos by Bill Slavin

What are you doing to cope with the large amount of stress created 

by the news of the last few weeks?

Each morning turning on the news brings up my stress levels. We are lucky so far, we are safe, but we know how in an instant life can change. Our backyard is our sanctuary where we can find some peace each day.

We planted redwoods as four-foot sticks in 1983 that now tower above us two or three times the height of our two-story house. We've had to cut down two of them. The arborist assured us that the trunks would die. We asked a tree sculptor to carve with a chainsaw a series of bears' heads into the trunks. One of the trunks died, but the other has continued to send out sprouts at the top and the sides of the trunk. We trim the sprouts so that the tree looks like it has a flat-top haircut. The bears' heads peek out from the ever-growing branches. Squirrels love to chew on the bears' paws, claws and foreheads. They keep their sharp teeth from growing too long that way. Blue jays hide food in the cavities around the bears' heads. The squirrels eagerly wait and take the food and bury it elsewhere.

This summer we noticed that the living tree is now growing inside the cavity where the bears' heads are carved out. The new growth is covering up the bears. Between the squirrels gnawing and the new growth of the tree, the bears will one day disappear. Nature, given a chance, takes back what we disturb. A small event in our backyard, but so true in the last few weeks across the country.

This is the same bear as the bear in the photo at the top.

DON'T FORGET ME

"It's Why It Hurts," a stream of consciousness essay by Tomas Riviera, jumps from an acute awareness of the surroundings of the narrator, a young boy of Mexican descent, to flashbacks of conversations and experiences the boy has had while going to school. The essay is part of the curriculum of the Berkeley middle school where I volunteer as a Writer Coach. It is a difficult essay to read and a challenge for the students.

The essay shows us the growing realization of the narrator about the embedded prejudices in his school. He thinks about the bullies who picked on him, his fights with them, and his ultimate expulsion that day. We hear through his thoughts that his teachers and principal don't think of him as "one of our kids," and therefore he can be easily separated from the school. As he tries to understand what has happened to him, he walks through the gates of a cemetery. He likes the property because it is quiet and green. As he nears the exit gate, he looks up and sees the sign that says, "Don't Forget Me."

The image of the sign resonated with me. The message made me think of the horrific events in the last few weeks, natural and man-made. How many lives lost or disrupted, especially due to senseless gunfire. I want to say, "Don't forget all the people who have lost their lives, whose names are broadcast on the news because they have died of gunshot wounds, people like Trayvon Martin, or the police in Dallas, or those who lost their lives in Columbine, Aurora, Sandy Hook, Orlando, Las Vegas and more. They all need to be remembered, one by one."

They all cry out, "Don't Forget Me," and then they ask, "What are you going to do about it? Prayers and thoughts are not enough. We need your collective strength to be the change that we all need. Make that our legacy."

This month is Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

CELEBRATE AUTUMN

Have you noticed the color of the sky at sunset, the change in the air in the evening, the arrival of spiders and their webs? Are you done feasting on tomatoes and other crops from your garden? You know that Autumn is here. I love to walk through the rustle of leaves, feel the chilly air in the morning, sweep our deck of leaves and maple seeds, and look for lots of acorns as a sign of a wet winter, and  to gather with friends. What do you like to do to enjoy the best of Autumn?

The Autumnal Equinox last Friday ushers in the season and represents balance before the coming of winter. This period is celebrated in ancient religions and marked by events such as Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year. The astrological sign for this period is Libra, with a scale as its symbol. In ancient Egypt, Horus and Seth, the powers of light and dark, battled each other as did similar gods in Norse and Aztec mythology. The Chinese celebrate with the Moon festival, honoring the harvest moon. From early times, we've understood the significance of the change in seasons.

At my monthly Craft Day, a friend brought me a decorated pumpkin to welcome Autumn. Our group sipped butternut squash soup, shared Stone Salad and homemade rolls, laughed, and talked while we worked to finish various projects some of us started a long time ago.

During the summer we sat outside, but last Friday we sought the warmth of a room with a fire in the fireplace. In California, the leaves haven't turned yet, but we felt the change in the weather and the change in ourselves as we reached for comfort and warmth as we head towards winter.

Butternut Squash Soup

2 tsp butter
1 onion, chopped
1 lb. butternut squash, peeled and cubed (I use the pre-cut version from the grocery)
2 apples, peeled and chopped
1 small potato, peeled and chopped
1 tsp grated ginger root
1 pinch of pepper
4 cups chicken broth
1/4 cup sparkling apple cider
1/4 tsp  each of cinnamon, ground cloves, nutmeg
1 tsp packed brown sugar

1/2 cup plain yogurt
Garnish with either more chopped apple or chopped pecans or both!

Roast butternut squash, 2 apples, potato in a 400-degree oven for 15 to 20 minutes.

Cook onion in butter in a saucepan until soft. Add squash, apple, potato, ginger root, and pepper. Stir in broth. Cover and bring to a boil.

In a food processor, puree soup, in small batches, until smooth. Return to saucepan. Stir in apple cider and brown sugar. Heat to boiling. Garnish with a dollop of yogurt and apples and/or pecans.



Stone Salad is a great way to have a potluck lunch. Ask each person to bring one ingredient to add to salad greens that you provide. Add dressing and let everyone help themselves. This way no one has to work too hard to provide a delicious lunch!

THE RIGHT SPOT

I've found that putting a plant in the right spot makes a world of difference in its ability to thrive. We have a sunny hillside that faces directly west. During the summer, the hill gets too much sun and many of the plants end up with burned leaves and drooping branches. Two bottle brushes grow on the hill. One of the bottle brushes is in just the right shady spot. Its branches are full of leaves, it looks healthy, and can withstand the occasional pruning of our deer. The other bottle brush is just a couple of feet away, but in more sun in the afternoon. Its spindly branches slump from the heat with a few leaves at the tips. The deer do further damage. The same is true of our three hibiscuses. Two are in the right spot and are shapely, while the third is in too much shade so the deer pruning is consequential.

Plants need their right spots. People do too. Do you know people who keep searching for their right spot? I think of large families where some of the siblings grow and thrive with vigor. Other members either don't connect well with their original family or suffer a series of difficult events, which makes resiliency hard to maintain. I was reminded how hard some people have struggled to find their right spot when Carl Nolte, a columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle, wrote about the 50th anniversary of the Summer of Love.* The City became a destination for runaways that summer. Nolte wrote about Jaki Katz, a runaway to the West Coast. She said she ran away because "I was a child of middle-class parents who lived in suburbia. I was spirited and they were not...." She eventually made up with her parents and now lives as an artist in Idaho. She was lucky, she found her right spot.

When I look at my garden, I am reminded of one of my favorite gardening writers, Beverley Nichols, who wrote about gardening in his home in England. His stories about wrestling with nature gave me inspiration because of the life lessons he learned as well.

He said, "The greatest service of the amateur in the art of gardening--or indeed in any of the arts--is that he does things wrong, either from courage, obstinacy, or sheer stupidity. He breaks rules right and left, planting things in the wrong soil at the wrong time of the year in the wrong aspect. And usually, we must admit, the result is disastrous. But not always."        (Garden Open Today, 185)

Doesn't his remark fit our own search for the right spot in life too?

Other books by Beverley Nichols can be found at Barnes & Nobles online:
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/beverley-nichols-bryan-connon/1100847787?ean=9781604690446


*http://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/nativeson/article/Summer-of-Love-poster-child-is-found-12168609.php

FULL CIRCLE

by Martha Slavin

My mother loved the illustrations of Kate Greenaway and Walter Crane, artists who lived in the Victorian era. Their delicate and detailed drawings for children's books remind me of illuminated manuscripts. The two artists used common motifs and design elements, such as letterforms, stars, flowers, leaves, swirls, repetition, and awareness of positive and negative space. My mother painted similar designs on the delicate ceramics she made.

This last weekend I felt like I was channeling my mother while I took a workshop called The Enchanted Letter led by Heather Victoria Held, a calligrapher and illustrator, who paints illuminated letters. She kept us enthralled with her mastery and knowledge of illumination, which harks back to the Middle Ages, when monks sat at their desks hand lettering religious books. The books done by monks were used for liturgical purposes, but other artists began using the same skills to illustrate books for wealthy patrons. The artists filled in many of the spaces with filigree, leaves, flowers, animals, and insects. The hand-made book became obsolete with the advent of the printing press, but the beauty and appreciation of these books never died. In the Victorian era, artists such as Kate Greenaway and Walter Crane, created children's books using many of the design techniques of the illuminated manuscripts.

by Martha Slavin

In the workshop, we worked on drawing the acanthus leaf that can be found in many designs dated back to the Ancient Egyptians. We learned how to shape the leaf around "S" forms. We placed leaves around borders. We added gold-leaf or gold paint. We colored the shapes first with watercolor pencils, then we dampened the color to smooth out the shading. We added watercolor to bring out highlights and contrast. We drew filigree between the shapes, added shading with pastels, and, finally, we glued on tiny crystals to add a little bling.  As Heather said, "A little bling never hurts." Much of what we did during the weekend workshop, I used to do in college and for several years afterward. I had put aside this type of work for other things. I gave away some of the reference books I no longer used. But now I am back full circle, enjoying the pleasure of this detailed, delicate work.

by Martha Slavin

If you travel to Europe and want more inspiration, you might want to look at the Lindesfarne Gospels in the British Library, or visit the home of Carl Larsson in Sundborn, Sweden, or travel to Bayeux, France, to see the Bayeux Tapestry, an extraordinary piece of embroidery using similar design techniques to relate the history leading to the Battle of Hastings.

by Martha Slavin

One of my favorite artists, Sara Midda, uses many of the techniques of the Victorian era to illustrate her charming books. Look also in the children's section of the library or bookstore for artists, such Graeme Base, Elizabeth Doyle or Edward Gorey, who have all completed an abcderian book worth looking through.

Check out these websites for more information about

Heather Held    https://heathervictoriaheld.com

Illuminated Manuscripts    http://www.illuminatedpage.com/history.html

Kate Greenaway    https://www.clevelandart.org/research/in-the-library/collection-in-focus/k-kate...kate-greenaway

Lindesfarne Gospels     http://www.bl.uk/onlinegallery/sacredtexts/lindisfarne.html

Carl Larsson    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sundborn

Bayeux Tapestry     http://www.bayeuxmuseum.com/en/la_tapisserie_de_bayeux_en.html
Sara Midda    https://www.workman.com/authors/sara-midda

Dover Publications, a great reference resource   http://www.doverpublications.com/about/