Some people take their troubles to a particular tree and gain refreshment and solace from its company; others derive inspiration from sitting at its foot or in its branches; still others have discovered that trees are truly mediators between the worlds, living bridges between our apparent world and the unseen realms of the otherworld. When we approach a tree, we need to slow down our breathing, slow down our rapid pace, our mental busyness, in order to be attuned to the spirit of the tree itself. … With our heart, we ask the tree to show us part of its nature. … We listen and give thanks. Even when we are just passing a tree, not visiting, we can still send out a greeting to it.
~ Caitlín Matthews
(The Celtic Spirit: Daily Meditations for the Turning Year)
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There is a huge oak tree in the backyard of this house where I currently live. I enjoy sitting beneath it in the shade reading on a warm afternoon. I’ve often looked at its great size and wondered what it has witnessed in its time on Earth. I will miss that tree when I move.
It’s amazing how those mighty oaks come from such little acorns. And they live for hundreds of years so it’s no wonder their energy seems so strong and wise. I bet your oak tree has seen quite a lot over the years! Maybe you will find another one near your new home.
Love this. So much.
So nice to hear from you, Rosie. 💙
I’ve long found that trees make excellent listeners, Barbara. They listen quietly and don’t judge. Nor do they offer suggestions, advice, or platitudes. Listening is such an under-used quality these days, don’t you think?!
So true, Debbie! When I was growing up my hemlock tree never offered suggestions or advice, but listened to me endlessly as I sat in its branches and pondered the mysteries of life and my place in the world. I miss those days.
This is an interesting concept Barbara. I went to see one of the Detroit Institute of Arts Inside/Outside paintings in the park. My post on it will not be until July 26th, but in lieu of this post, I have to pass along this painting/info to you in the interim.
https://lindaschaubblog.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/3-trailhead-a.jpg
https://lindaschaubblog.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/3-trailhead-b.jpg
Sorry Barbara – it appears my comment went to moderation as I attached links to photos. After you view the photos, you can just delete them from my comment, but I had to share them because it mirrored your post.
Thank you, Linda, for sharing that link to the “Talking Oak” painting by William Maw Egley! I’ve never heard of the artist before and the painting is lovely. It seems many people in our modern day and in times gone by have formed deep attachments to individual oak trees. I can see why. Looking forward to your post. 🙂
You’re welcome Barbara. I couldn’t resist sending those two pictures to you, the perfect compliment to your post. So yes, it’s not a new idea at all and it appears the artist based the painting on a poem as well. Oak trees like this one always seem so stately. Some of the ones I see pictured in the Deep South are many years old, like the Angel Oak tree in Charleston, South Carolina. Thank you – it will be the 26th of July. I’m trying to stay ahead on posts a few weeks for when I can finally get out and enjoy Summer. We have another heat wave next week.
Now you’ve got me remembering an interesting oak tree in the south that captured my imagination a couple of years ago, in Georgia. It was in the front yard of our vacation cottage.
https://ingebrita.net/2024/02/a-distinctive-oak-tree/
I’m not sure what the definition of a heat wave is in these parts but it seems like we’ve been one since June, which was apparently the hottest here in recorded history, with no end in sight. One of my friends, who grew up in Florida, told me she had finally met her match enduring this interminable heat. I’ve lost track how often the heat index has been over 100°F. It’s always over 90°F.
I went back and looked at the post and I do remember that huge oak tree as I was enamored with the Spanish moss dripping from it and all the plant life growing in its forks. That’s an interesting tree.
I don’t know how you tolerate all the heat Barbara – I wonder if it has always been that hot in Summer, or just climate change, etc. making it so bad now. I keep reading and hearing about how Europe is breaking all kinds of old records and people finding the need for A/C when they just tolerated the heat before. Plus all the heat-related deaths around the world, not so much here in the U.S. as we are prepared to handle it. We are starting another heat wave Monday – now they say lasting until Friday with similar temps, then next weekend is stormy, hopefully not bad storms to break the heat. I went out today and it was 82 driving home and I felt like a limp dishrag when I got home and I was only walking around a little over an hour.
I don’t tolerate the heat! Every morning I pray that the air conditioning won’t malfunction, while listening to the meteorologists on TV go on about all the records we’re breaking. So I’d say it hasn’t always been this hot. I started reading a book, The Heat Will Kill You First by Jeff Goodell. Heat waves kill more people than hurricanes or wildfires. And in this country, the worst of it will be in the southeast and the midwest – so we’re both in trouble, Linda. (Right now the safest spot to be is upstate New York.)
I don’t tolerate the heat well either Barbara. I went for a walk with the camera on Saturday, driving home it was 82 degrees outside and I wondered why I went out. I intended to go out again Sunday but decided to pull weeds in the backyard as they’d gotten overgrown … I lasted about one hour and 15 minutes, then my eyes were burning from sweat dribbles and I said “enough!” I don’t care how it looks – no one goes back there, except me and I don’t go there any more than I have to. I was surprised to hear that statistic about heat waves killing people during out heat dome heat wave just before the 4th of July and was amazed how many people lost their lives in Europe this year. Upstate New York sounds like a wonderful place to be right now. We had a client who lived there. He was quite the farmer – way on in his 80s, working full time, plus he had a large piece of property and loved gardening – he would send us photos of his veggie crops.