The Truth of the Trees: New Growth is Beautiful

I have been spending a lot of time in the forest these days.  During the stay at home months, the forest was where I felt free and safe.  I slowed down, took deep breaths and looked at everything around me.  The unfolding of spring has been delightful.  As each type of flower finishes it’s job of attracting pollinators and then creating seeds, another flower emerges.  The continuing change keeps me alert and paying attention.

White Trilliiums

I waited for weeks to see the Trilliums finally open.  The cold weather stalled their progress and when they finally opened it was very exciting.  A mere two weeks later, the weather was very hot and they wilted, then faded away.  I felt sad that they had lasted so short a time.  But, then I started to notice the new growth on the coniferous trees.  It was bright green and hopeful.  The fruit that they created in lieu of flowers was spectacular in design and colour.  I had never had this much time to pay attention to all these trees before.

Canadian Yew.  You can see the older growth is darker green.

Norway Spruce

White Pine

Just as the Trilliums were fading, I returned to work part time.  I had just become used to staying at home and now change was happening again.  The Trilliums faded as did my extended break.  But, the new coniferous growth buoyed me up.  We are entering a world in which new growth is happening and I want to be a part of this new world.  And so I decided to carry the teachings of the trees to guide me in this new phase.

Here are some of the trees that are inspiring me to grow new ways of doing things, new attitudes,  new compassion and new collaborations.  The truth of the trees is that new growth is beautiful!

Red Pine

Red Pine

Red Pine

White Spruce

Balsam Fir

Red Pine

Blue Spruce