I've read quite a few books about trees in my past, most recently a new book by Lita Judge, The Wisdom of Trees, How Trees Work Together to Form a Natural Kingdom, a non-fiction picture book. Also, last year I read The Overstory, a fiction book by Richard Powers. Certainly, there have been others and you probably know some titles, too. I often laugh and share that I bought my home mostly because of a hundred-year-old plus cottonwood outside my side door.
This week, after listening to an NPR interview, I discovered a scientist who has done extensive research about trees helping the forest, every part. Her book is Finding the Mother Tree - Discovering the Wisdom of the Forest by Suzanne Simard. It came out just this week! HERE is one article that includes some description of her work. And a small quote from it: "Before Simard and other ecologists revealed the extent and significance of mycorrhizal networks, foresters typically regarded trees as solitary individuals that competed for space and resources and were otherwise indifferent to one another. Simard and her peers have demonstrated that this framework is far too simplistic. An old-growth forest is neither an assemblage of stoic organisms tolerating one another’s presence nor a merciless battle royale: It’s a vast, ancient and intricate society. There is conflict in a forest, but there is also negotiation, reciprocity and perhaps even selflessness."
Last year, I took a picture of a marvelous tree that I thought I might write about during poetry month. Yet, I never did, so this week, I wrote, letting it tell its own recent story.
