I love trees,
When I was a child we had an apple tree in our garden that had two branches that were just perfect for me to climb on,
From there I could climb a bit higher, but mainly these two
perfectly positioned branches were “my tree house”. I imagined my kitchen, sleeping room…my secret play house up there.
A feeling of perfect happiness often comes to me when sitting under a tree, with the sun shining
through the leaves, with the sound of very soft wind through the branches…hmmmm…and sitting under this tree with those I love… for a nice pic nic or a nice meal…or just resting……this is perfect happiness!
I also remember on hot days finding shade under a tree and once on a very sad day finding relief under a tree in autumn and feeling the golden leaves falling on me like soothing gold falling from heaven…
And what joy to pick
fruits in a tree! Cherries, apples, plums…
I remember travelling through the high plateau of Tibet, or through the desert…not a tree in sight for hours and hours…and then suddenly there is a tree…what a relief!
Where there are trees, right away people settled around…humans need trees for living! They are our close relatives really,
Here in Bhutan 68% or 72% of the land is covered by forest. It is even written in the constitution that it
has to stay this way.
The ecological balance is so fragile here in the Himalayas and global warming is affecting the natural balance of nature in a very concrete way, landslides, deforestation etc, so the government wisely has for seen the importance
to protect the forest for the wellbeing of all of us.
Many trees here are not just normal trees…they have still their rights and their power…Nath said they feel like in the Lord of the Rings : the Ents…I know what
he means.
When my grandchildren were here we saw through their eyes the faces in the trees…we felt the life and the characters of the different trees, some very friendly, some quite frightening …once we saw a “tree
Sangha” meditating together!
Here some of the trees we meet on our pilgrimage hikes: