Word Wednesday - Wood

I have been struggling with this subject. Not because I have nothing to say, but because I have spoken of trees and therefore wood, in one way or another already. I have talked of the oak tree I have watched grow and the spell that has lain in it's roots for nearly eight years. I have spoken of the the twisted tree. What else do I have to say? That might take me more than two sentences...

I went tree hugging once with a friend when I lived in the city. I got a feeling of permanence and that time had slowed down, a lot.

Let's look back further...

Childhood...

What did trees mean to me then?

Trees were my playground. My parents garden is full of them and many of them were climbed by me. The apple trees in the orchard. The plum tree. The yews at the end of the garden. The strange fruit trees who were neither cherry or plum but some self made cross.

There were also trees I didn't climb. The three giant lime trees for instance. There lowest branches were so far above my reach I had no hope. Even when my very tall Dad lifted me and placed me up in the first branches, I could not hope to reach the next rung... The pine trees were also strangely safe... Apparently my nephew has been passed the tree climbing gene and he climbs them. He is deemed to be like me. His Mum was certainly never ever a tree climber. She was a proper girl who used to make me watch old black and white films with her.

At school there was also many, many trees to climb. We had fairly large grounds to roam. There were trees that were out of bounds, the apple trees and the ones around the front of the school. There were ones we couldn't climb. The giant cedar tree that needed four of us to hold hands to reach round it. The interesting sideways growing pine type tree which was considered to rare to be climbed by the gardeners even though it's branches had grown to make lovely easy steps.

The loss of certain trees was not to much of a harship however as there were so many others to choose from. One giant tree had very interesting wood with holes all the way up which made it very easy to climb a long way up. There were other trees near the boundary from which you gaze across the fields at freedom... Many trees were too small as they grew close together in dense thickets.

At school I was considered to be a very good tree climber. I could climb trees others couldn't. I had no fear of heights at that time either. I don't know when I stopped climbing trees. Many of the trees at home were only accessible to smaller people and well, I was never short... I remember climbing trees once as an adult. I was very unhappy at the time and some friends went with me to a local park to feed the ducks and climb trees....

I wish I could climb trees now. Just sit up in their branches looking out at the world. Feeling the bark and the life of the wood beneath me. Feeling cradled and safe and cared for. I don't think it would be fair on the trees right now. I guess this is just another good reason to get thin and lose weight...