The Quotable Tree
The second Festival of the Trees
filler
So, on with the trees. The photos you see on this page are courtesy of Eleanor from the View from Elsewhere. If you like her pix, why don't you give her a visit here.
"To the great tree-loving fraternity we belong. We love trees with universal and unfeigned love, and all things that do grow under them or around them -- the whole leaf and root tribe."
Henry Ward Beecher
Welcome one and all to the second-ever Festival of the Trees. Kudos to Dave at Via Negativa for perpetrating the original idea and hosting the first Festival. And hats off in advance to Bev at Burning Silo who will be hosting the next Festival on September 1st or thereabouts. If you make a tree-ish post during August that you'd like to contribute (or if you find one that you think ought to be considered), you can send the link to Bev at bev [at] magickcanoe [dot] com. Also, don't be shy. If you'd like to host an upcoming Festival, drop me or Dave a quick email.
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"Life without love is like a tree without blossoms and fruit."
Khalil Gibran
Mystery writer Susan Wittig Albert starts us off with a tale about Honey Mesquite. It's a story packed with love and hate, though the balance tips to love long before the end. She even includes a recipe!_______________
"It is difficult to realize how great a part of all that is cheerful and delightful in the recollections of our own life is associated with trees."
Wilson Flagg
Karen at Not Native Fruit reflects on the necessity of trees in her life, and she wonders how others can manage to live without them. For those who have lived among trees, she notes, the effects remain deep within us._______________
"The wonder is that we can see these trees and not wonder more."
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Sometimes a particular tree can confound our senses, and the memory of it stays with us forever. Such is the tree that Duncan writes about at Ben Cruachan Blog. The Mountain Grey Gum he found measures more than forty-seven feet in circumference at breast height. Be sure to click on the link to see a second image of this magnificent tree._______________
"I frequently tramped eight or ten miles through the deepest snow to keep an appointment with a beech-tree, or a yellow birch, or an old acquaintance among the pines."
Henry David Thoreau
And so did Nuthatch, who delivers dispatches from her home ground in the urban wilderness. She gives an account of a particular beech tree that she has visited, and she provides a recent update link at the end._______________
"He who leaves the pine-tree, leaves his friend, unnerves his strength, invites his end."
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Martin Rundkvist of the Salto Sobrius blog reports from Stockholm of the ultimate blogger accessory: a branch high in a pine tree. He even includes an account of "his end" that invites speculation!_______________
"There are rich counsels in the trees."
Herbert P. Horne
And stories to be told. Wayne of Niches begins to dismantle a fallen oak and discovers it to be 160 years old. As the true scientist that he is, Wayne observes and draws facts from the work, yet, as you will see when you visit his post, the knowledge is readily available to any who take the time to look."Us sing and dance, make faces and give flower bouquets, trying to be loved. You ever notice that trees do everything to git attention we do, except walk?"
Alice Walker
JL, over at Arboreality, keeps a blog devoted to trees! She recently mused about some mysterious mulberry trees that caught her attention, and she lamented that her winged competitors tasted the fruit before she had the chance. Be sure to browse her blog for more mulberry mysteries as well as all sorts of lovely posts._______________
"You can live for years next door to a big pine tree, honored to have so venerable a neighbor, even when it sheds needles all over your flowers or wakes you, dropping big cones onto your deck at still of night."
Denise Levertov
Kerrdelune at Beyond the Fields We Know makes a post that includes some lovely pictures of pine cones. Indulge yourself in thoughtful posts and evocative pix at this blog that offers "wild thoughts on the journey."_______________
"Trees outstrip most people in the extent and depth of their work for the public good."
Sara Ebenreck
This idea is explored in several ways by the inimitable Florida Cracker with his post about live oakers, a part of his family heritage as well as U.S. history. The needs of the public good have changed through the centuries. Let us hope that a tree house gets built in what has remained._______________
"There is always Music amongst the trees in the Garden, but our hearts must be very quiet to hear it."
Minnie Aumonier
And trees themselves can sometimes be a garden, as Beth of Firefly Forest shows in her recent post about epiphytes. Beth's site is an online journal rather than an actual blog, and it is worth your time to browse through her posts to see through another's discerning eyes._______________
"Rest is not idleness, and to lie sometimes on the grass under trees on a summer's day, listening to the murmur of the water, or watching the clouds float across the sky, is by no means a waste of time."
J. Lubbock
When we see the familiar in new ways, we have not wasted the time this has taken. Visit Mark Cassino at his photography blog CalArti to see some trees in new ways. He sees human qualities in the forest, which is one way to appreciate trees._______________
"Many of their lodges remained as perfect as when occupied. They were made of poles two or three inches in diameter, set up in circular form, and covered with cedar bark."
William Henry Ashley
Roger (TBFKA Dread Pirate Roberts) has covered his own lodge with cedar shingles. And he thought it wise to learn something of this wondrous wood that is sheltering him. Visit his post called cedar? to learn something as well. (Roger is shift key-challenged.)_______________
"Trees are much like human beings and enjoy each other's company. Only a few love to be alone."
Jens Jensen
The Queen of All Blogs, Karen of Rurality, writes of her totem tree: the bottlebrush buckeye. Plants grow lavishly in the wilds of Alabama, and her thoughts grow correspondingly. (I still have a cloth bag of buckeyes I collected as a child!)_______________
"Why are there trees I never walk under, but large and melodious thoughts descend upon me?"
Walt Whitman
A quotation from Leaves of Grass is appropriate for a post from a blog also called Leaves of Grass. Sonia had responded to a challenge called "Common," but I see nothing common in the pink tabebuia trees in her native Brazil. Large and melodious thoughts would descend upon anyone who chanced beneath these lovelies._______________
"Trees are earth's endless effort to speak to the listening heaven."
Rabindranath Tagore
If trees can speak in tongues we can understand, then I think Larry Ayers of Riverside Rambles has captured a tale to be told with his post Talking With Trees. It seems that only imagination is required to learn the language."Only when the last tree has died and the last river been poisoned and the last fish been caught will we realize we cannot eat money."
Cree Indian proverb
Sometimes the intersection of humans with nature is more like a collision. GreenManTim, of the blog Walking the Berkshires, gives an account of this sort of collision in his post Of Sages and Hemlocks. The eastern hemlock (not the same plant that dealt Socrates a fatal blow) is itself suffering a fatal blow, and this post recounts many of the things humans can do, good and bad, for this beleaguered tree._______________
"It is not so much for its beauty that the forest makes a claim upon men's hearts, as for that subtle something, that quality of air that emanates from old trees, that so wonderfully changes and renews a weary spirit."
Robert Louis Stevenson
Or cures warts. Dave Bonta, host of the first Festival of the Trees at Via Negativa, writes in Holey Water of "pans" in trees and stumps that collect water as well as human lore. As always, Dave's post is thoughtful from many points of view._______________
"Someone's sitting in the shade today because someone planted a tree a long time ago."
Warren Buffett
Kalamazoo's squirrel photographer extraordinaire Kim offers a post on his town's outdoor summer concerts under shady trees. Even the squirrels seem to be enjoying the music (though I wish we could have seen the Hawaiian shirts)._______________
"The best part of happiness is the pines."
Terri Guillemet
Peter of slow reads reflects on the role Pines have played throughout his life, from early memories of using the bark for sidewalk chalk to the voices of angels. Notice how his photo enhances the "reflective" nature of his post._______________
"Long, sparkling aisles of steel-stemmed trees bending to counterfeit a breeze."
James R. Russell
Steel-stemmed trees, indeed! Last, and probably least, is this condition of modern life._______________
And so we come to the end of this second Festival of the Trees. I hope you enjoyed it. Remember that your participation is always welcomed in future Festivals!
August 1st, 2006 at 7:21 am
It’s my first time to visit the Festival of Trees and wasn’t what I expected. But it was very beautiful just the same. I love the desert southwest and have spent lots of time there but it is always the trees that draw me back to my native wooded hills in southeast Iowa.
I saw that you included a couple quotes from a distant relative of mine, Ralph Waldo Emerson. Unfortunately his writing ability to carry down to me.
August 1st, 2006 at 8:18 am
Wow, what a great mix of quotes, links and photos! And it’s exciting to see so many new-to-the-festival bloggers here! Now off to follow the links…
August 1st, 2006 at 8:45 am
nicely done! thank you for your effort. this will fill my day.
August 1st, 2006 at 9:47 am
[...] Get into the carnival spirit at the Festival of the Trees 2. [...]
August 1st, 2006 at 12:45 pm
Thank you for including me in this wonderful celebration! I’ll be back every day to explore another link, and another irreplaceable, unforgettable tree.
August 1st, 2006 at 2:22 pm
Wonderful, wonderful job! I am currently engaged with other projects, but just had to pop in and see what’s up for Festival II. Thank you so much for all your hard work, and for all the wonderful quotes and blog entries you’ve included. I can’t wait for a chance to sit down and browse them all at leisure.
Cheers,
JLB
August 1st, 2006 at 2:43 pm
Nice job Pablo. Thanks for the invite and thank you for taking on this task.
August 1st, 2006 at 2:48 pm
Wonderful edition of Festival of the Trees, Pablo. Enjoyed the various quotes and passages that you chose to introduce each of the pieces. I see that I’ll have some good reading over the next few days.
August 1st, 2006 at 5:05 pm
[...] I’m hosting the second-ever Festival of the Trees over at my other blog. Have a look it your interested. [...]
August 1st, 2006 at 5:06 pm
[...] I’m hosting the second-ever Festival of the Trees over at my other blog. Have a look it you’re interested. [...]
August 1st, 2006 at 9:22 pm
Love the tree quotes you included and a great set of links to peruse.
August 1st, 2006 at 9:36 pm
Wonderful idea! Those trees are fantastic. Thank you!
August 1st, 2006 at 9:43 pm
pablo, nice job. thanks for finding a place for my lilttle effort. i promise to do better this month. no, really. really.
August 2nd, 2006 at 10:42 am
Wonderful job Pablo!
Thank you so much for including me in this wonderful celebration!
Love the tree quotes and I will be back to explore anothers links!
I will post a link on my side bar and on my blog, too.
PS: The pink tabebuia are common in my region and in Brazil in the months of June and July.
August 2nd, 2006 at 11:55 am
[...] The second edition of Festival of the Trees is now up and ready for your viewing and contemplation at Roundrock Journal. Next month’s edition will appear here at Burning Silo. If you have a tree-related post that you would like to submit for the September 1st edition, please email me by August 29th. Be sure to put “Festival of the Trees” in the subject line of your email to prevent it from being trashed by my spam filter. I will acknowledge all submissions within a day or two, so if you don’t hear from me, please do contact me to confirm that I’ve received it. [...]
August 2nd, 2006 at 5:58 pm
Great job Pablo, love the quotes.
August 3rd, 2006 at 6:19 am
I and the Bird #29 and Other Announcements…
I and the Bird #29 is up at Alis Volat Propriis. Join Leigh as she takes her readers on a bird blogging vacation. As usual, there is plenty of good writing. My own offering is my post from last week a……
August 3rd, 2006 at 3:42 pm
Beautiful: Quotes, photos, sentiments. Thank you so much for such a lovely entry!
August 5th, 2006 at 5:54 am
Ths is lovely, Pablo!
August 11th, 2006 at 9:16 am
[...] The August Festival of the Trees is being hosted over at Roundrock Journal. Do check it out for a summary of all things tree-like that were blogged in July. If you’re interested in submitting a blog entry for the September festival, it’s being hosted by Burning Silo. Your entries need to be sent to Bev at Burning Silo (bev [at] magickcanoe [dot] com). [...]
August 24th, 2006 at 10:13 am
[...] Just a reminder that the third edition of Festival of the Trees will appear here at Burning Silo on September 1st. If you have a tree-related post that you would like to submit, please email me, preferably by August 29th. Be sure to put “Festival of the Trees” in the subject line of your email to prevent it from being trashed by my spam filter. I will acknowledge all submissions within a day or two, so if you don’t hear from me, please *do* contact me again to confirm that I’ve received it. If you aren’t sure about what kind of post to submit, check out the second edition of Festival of the Trees that is currently up at Roundrock Journal, or visit the About page on the Festival of the Trees home website. Don’t be shy — send in those links ASAP! [...]
October 18th, 2006 at 6:39 pm
[...] The second edition of this blog carnival devoted to trees is now up at Roundrock Journal. Pablo has done a great job introducing each entry with a quote from literature. Be sure to take a look. [...]
April 10th, 2007 at 12:29 am
[...] Also, the second Festival of the Trees is up at Roundrock Journal. Festival of the Trees celebrates blog posts about trees, including writing, artwork, and photography. This carnival is monthly, with editions appearing at the beginning of each month. The next, around September 1, will be at Burning Silo. [...]