July 1, 2013

Our back yard is littered with curled, ragged pieces of bark from a couple of eucalyptus trees, one of which I’ve named the spirit tree because it demands my attention.  The two trees were obviously bought at the same time from the same nursery.  Like siblings, there are similarities,  but they are definitely individuals.  In June and July every year one simply bursts its skin and peels its outer skin away as quickly as possible.  The other tree, the one I’m calling the spirit tree, puts on a show.  It takes its time peeling.  It says, “Look at this,”  and “I’ll bet you didn’t expect this...”  It’s an art show... abstractions mostly, with an occasional unmistakable face or hand.  

I keep reminding myself that the indigenous people whom the first European settlers found on the North American continent were in awe of Mother Earth.  At the center of their spirituality was a deep reverence for nature.  In 1854 Chief Seattle is said to have given a speech about the sanctity of the land.  The speech is sometimes said to have been sent in a letter to the President.  Whether or not it actually happened doesn’t matter to me.  I like the ideas that are credited to Chief Seattle. The part of the speech that touches me most is his introduction. He was speaking to white people about the reactions of his people to the carelessness of Seventeenth Century Europeans toward the land.

“How can you buy or sell the sky, the warmth of the land?  The idea is strange to us.  If we do not own the freshness of the air and the sparkle of the water, how can you buy them?  Every part of the Earth is sacred to my people.  Every shining pine needle, every sandy shore, every mist in the dark woods every clear and humming insect is holy in the memory and experience of my people.  The sap which courses through the trees carries the memory and experience of my people.  The sap which courses through the trees carries the memories of the red man.”

O.K.... O.K....  I know these eucalyptus trees are native to Australia, but I think Chief Seattle would understand the reverence I feel toward to the ones in my yard.