Grandfather Oak

The trees are our teachers. Consider just a few of their lessons;

• The flexible bend in the storms and rarely break.
• To reach for the stars, requires nourishment from the earth.
• The environment can affect life, and life can affect environment.

I have woods in back of my house and there is a tree up on a hill that has fallen. I had seen it before put paid little attention. Recently I went to rediscover this tree and was amazed at it’s size, once I really began to see it. This incredible Oak tree may very well be the largest tree I have ever seen. Even lying on its side doesn't detract from its majesty.

I wonder how old it is, and what had caused it finally topple after all these years. I wondered how long ago it had fallen, and how long would it take to be fully recycled back into the earth. I was intrigued by the fact that there were precious few roots on the bottom, and it even seemed to lack the typical “hole and ball” effect I have seen with other downed trees. Yet in its upright days it must have dominated this area. Truthfully, in its horizontal days, it’s still dominating the area.  I wondered at the birds and animals that had sat in its branches, and I wonder at the birds and animals that still use it’s branches.  It isn't dead and gone, its still very much alive.  It exists in a different form perhaps, but the spirit of this tree and tree itself will live here in this spot long after any obvious signs of its presence now are gone.

You see my neighbor views it as a resource to eventually be cut up and used. True that is a value in downed trees that I can appreciate.  But this grandfather is a treasure, best left to take its natural course without human intervention. He has observed more than we can ever dream, and deserves to reciprocate those lessons back to the earth.

The trees are our teachers. Perhaps their greatest lesson lies in simply observing all and grasping at nothing, realizing the only inevitable is change, and simply to be where you are, right now, is enough.