Long before I learned that something was wrong with my baby, I walked the streets of New York City with her, bundled in my arms or in a Snugli. Her gaze nearly always moved upward toward the few trees that peppered our block. City trees, at least those on the streets, are generally ginkgos -- hardy to the onslaught of pollution and pee. When we learned that Sophie had a debilitating form of epilepsy, we continued to take her out and about the city, but it was Central Park that she loved the best, turning her little face up and toward the many beautiful trees that graced its paths.
I said then that if she were a Native American, her name would be Girl Who Loves Trees.
Today, Sophie lives to go outside, to walk down the street and always, always, she moves her head and eyes up and toward the branches of trees, conversing with them, I'm sure.
Me too, Sophie.
ReplyDeleteyour post made me think of this book- http://www.amazon.com/Trees-Make-Best-Mobiles-Complex/dp/0312303254
ReplyDeleteblessed day to you and yours.
Have you read "The Underneath"? It is a kid's novel that I am reading with my son, and I'm loving it. I think of it here because of the role that trees play in it. They are compassionate and all-seeing.
ReplyDeleteI was listening to a radio show last night about the effects of nature on our bodies. Being around greenery and trees raises our natural endorphin levels and helps to combat the effects of cortisol (a stress hormone). Apparently our bodies know this, even if our minds have forgotten. Sohpie knows.
ReplyDeleteI need to be around more green stuff as well. The kind you smoke.
ReplyDeleteI keeeed, I keeeed...
I just need it to stop raining so much here. Though...with as much rain as we've had it has kept my allergies in check.
When I used to live in Savannah I thought the trees down there sounded very cool. The wind just interacted with the leaves and moss in a really odd way and their 'voice' was just...different. Liked it.
OK. I'm rambling...
Heights, air, lightness and sky. The limbs of a tree, and not the roots. Nor the earth.
ReplyDeleteLovely! There is some scientific basis (although clearly Sophie doesn't need proof) to the fact that tilting your head up and back stimulates a part of your brain that releases the "feel-good" hormones.
ReplyDelete'Scuse me. Gotta go look at the gingko in my front yard...
Sophie is a young woman after my own heart. I always loved climbing trees as a kid. But after my dad died when I was 12 and my mom began disintegrating mentally, I practically lived in a huge oak tree in our back yard. I took banana sandwiches, MacIntosh apples and books and climbed up to sit on a thick branch with a smaller branch for a back rest. Until I moved away to go to college, that tree became my best friend and therapist.
ReplyDeletei'm with her. she's got the right idea...
ReplyDeleteOh, the wisdom dwelling in that beautiful child ..... more than I'll ever have.
ReplyDeleteAre those nut trees? They remind me of our pecans and black walnuts.
ReplyDeleteThe idea of Sophie loving trees makes me very, very happy. She would love my yard. Oh yes, she would.
I love the lush greenness of these photos, and Sophie at one with the trees. Something about the light and air in these photos makes me exhale. Sophie is onto something, wise child.
ReplyDeleteShe feels the life and blessing.
ReplyDeleteLovely.
I'm happier under a canopy of leaves. I would just love to go for a walk with your Sophie.
ReplyDelete:-)
What a great shot of Sophie. She is an old soul isn't she?
ReplyDeleteI love that. So inspiring.
ReplyDeleteI love trees too.
ReplyDeleteWhat do you think she feels when she looks at them?
Trees tell a story, sing a song and dance for us. This changes and speaks to us different every day. I love nothing better than to lay in my bed and look out the window early in the morning to watch the leaves flutter or the branches to swing. Sophie sees and hears this story too...the trees call to all of us if we but listen.
ReplyDeleteThat is a beautiful connection that Sophie has.
ReplyDelete