It can take years for a tree to die.
A big limb broke off this old maple in The Orphaned Woods a couple of years ago. And now another limb, almost as big, is hanging off the other side only being held up by one of the other branches. The tree is obviously dying.
Surrounding it is a circle of smaller maples. From what I read in Suzanne Simard’s book, Finding The Mother Tree, I’d guess that this maple is a mother tree.
Which means that even when it’s dying, it’s still sending nutrients to the smaller trees that are growing around it.
When Simard did experiments with injured trees she found that “Facing an uncertain future, she[the mother tree] was passing her life force straight to her offspring, helping them prepare for the changes ahead. Dying enabled the living; the aged fueled their young.”
She wrote...”I imagined the flow of energy from the Mother Trees as powerful as the ocean tide, as strong as the sun’s rays, as irrepressible as the wind in the mountains, as unstoppable as a mother protecting her child.”
I love the idea of giving while dying. Of passing my life force on.
This might just be a romantic idea of mine. A way of softening the certainty of death. But it does make me think about how my life force could possibly manifest. I’m not even sure what that means. But the words creativity, love, and hope come to mind.
Hi Maria,
I thought you’d appreciate this factoid that I learned decades ago. The tree in this photo is what’s known as a WOLF tree. 🙂 Here’s a link for you to read more about them. I find them fascinating as ‘the elders of the forest’.
https://www.americanforests.org/magazine/article/wolf-trees-elders-of-the-eastern-forest/
Thanks Dot!
Food for thought for the mind and soul Maria. Will be engaging with elder trees more profoundly, saying more than just hello. Leaving some of my life force with them, acknowledging their and my part of the cycle of life. Am crying as I write this. And thanks Dot, I did not know the term Wolf Trees.
Thank you Sharon for your heartfelt response. I heard a ,little about wolf trees on the tree walk I went on, but Dot’s article is much more in-depth. I’ll be thinking about that.
So all the trees are relating, communication going on underground thru their roots, sharing of nutrients and life force, and your animals are relating in ways you are just beginning to see. But the human family needs to go to war. An open-ended question as I start my workday.
It’s a good question Sharon.