1 00:00:00,500 --> 00:00:04,700 Hello, this is Dori Robinson and I hope you are doing well. 2 00:00:05,100 --> 00:00:09,200 We are working on future new episodes to be released soon, 3 00:00:09,600 --> 00:00:12,500 but really wanted to replace a this Tree of Life. 4 00:00:12,500 --> 00:00:16,500 Episode that was originally released last year because we 5 00:00:16,500 --> 00:00:19,700 think that the things that Stephanie causes spoke of in our 6 00:00:19,700 --> 00:00:22,900 interview are more important than ever. 7 00:00:23,100 --> 00:00:27,100 As we find ways to protect and take care of our Earth and 8 00:00:27,100 --> 00:00:30,600 trees. Also this episode and is one of 9 00:00:30,608 --> 00:00:35,700 our favorites as it features. Our mothers, we hope you are 10 00:00:35,700 --> 00:00:40,900 able to celebrate and take in this blossoming time of year and 11 00:00:40,900 --> 00:00:54,900 that you enjoy this episode in this season of tree speech. 12 00:00:54,900 --> 00:00:58,700 We are focusing on how we commune with trees, the 13 00:00:58,700 --> 00:01:01,400 conversations. We With them, as well as the 14 00:01:01,400 --> 00:01:05,800 spiritual mythical and personal ways people relate to them, not 15 00:01:05,800 --> 00:01:09,000 only in our present day, but also throughout history. 16 00:01:11,600 --> 00:01:16,400 Appearing in numerous religious and sacred texts art literature 17 00:01:16,400 --> 00:01:20,700 science, religion, philosophy and mythology across States 18 00:01:20,700 --> 00:01:24,900 cultures and civilizations. We couldn't explore our relation 19 00:01:24,900 --> 00:01:28,300 to trees without examining the Tree of Life. 20 00:01:31,500 --> 00:01:35,400 The tree of life, sometimes referred to as the world tree 21 00:01:35,700 --> 00:01:39,100 appears in mythology and folklore of cultures around the 22 00:01:39,100 --> 00:01:42,800 world and very slightly from culture, The culture, a common 23 00:01:42,800 --> 00:01:46,100 theme that is shared, however, is the idea that a mystical 24 00:01:46,100 --> 00:01:49,500 tree, connects the spiritual and physical worlds. 25 00:01:50,000 --> 00:01:53,600 In addition, the tree of life is foundational to supporting all 26 00:01:53,600 --> 00:01:58,900 life on this planet. My name is story Robinson and 27 00:01:58,900 --> 00:02:01,900 this is tree speech. A podcast where we practice 28 00:02:01,900 --> 00:02:04,100 hearing the forest through the trees. 29 00:02:04,600 --> 00:02:08,500 This week's episode was written and recorded in Massachusetts on 30 00:02:08,500 --> 00:02:11,000 the native lands of the wabanaki Confederacy. 31 00:02:11,400 --> 00:02:15,500 Penacook massachusett and Pawtucket people in New York on 32 00:02:15,500 --> 00:02:18,900 the land of the Lenape tribes, as well as on the lands of the 33 00:02:18,900 --> 00:02:22,400 Confederate, tribes of the siletz, Indians and the Grande 34 00:02:22,400 --> 00:02:26,000 Ronde Cowlitz. Tree speech is co-written and 35 00:02:26,000 --> 00:02:29,400 produced by Jonathan's out. Nur, and a light theater guilt. 36 00:02:34,200 --> 00:02:38,000 Swiss psychologist. Carl Jung continually notice 37 00:02:38,000 --> 00:02:41,800 that trees often arose in people's dreams and so began to 38 00:02:41,800 --> 00:02:46,100 study the commonalities of this occurrence through his research. 39 00:02:46,100 --> 00:02:48,500 He discovered that trees were part of the collective. 40 00:02:48,500 --> 00:02:53,400 Unconscious indicating growth unfolding shelter, nurturing, 41 00:02:53,400 --> 00:02:58,100 permanence rootedness and rebirth and concluded that the 42 00:02:58,100 --> 00:03:03,000 tree is an archetype, a symbol deeply ingrained, even hardwired 43 00:03:03,000 --> 00:03:04,700 into the human eye. Unconscious. 44 00:03:05,100 --> 00:03:08,400 The fact that this ancient symbol for life is a tree is 45 00:03:08,400 --> 00:03:12,100 fitting after all throughout history, human beings have 46 00:03:12,100 --> 00:03:15,000 always paid. Homage to trees our distant 47 00:03:15,000 --> 00:03:17,800 ancestors. Clearly understood how important 48 00:03:17,800 --> 00:03:20,400 trees were for supporting life on Earth. 49 00:03:20,700 --> 00:03:24,000 Even before the times of scientific inquiry, the 50 00:03:24,000 --> 00:03:28,000 connections between trees, religion and spirituality date 51 00:03:28,000 --> 00:03:32,100 as far back as humankind with deep ties in every culture, 52 00:03:32,200 --> 00:03:36,800 faith and civilization. Jewish, Christian, Islamic 53 00:03:36,800 --> 00:03:41,000 Buddhist Hindi Mayan and Celtic interpretations, just to name a 54 00:03:41,008 --> 00:03:48,100 few The oldest known example of the Tree of Life depicted in art 55 00:03:48,100 --> 00:03:50,400 was found in excavations in Turkey. 56 00:03:50,600 --> 00:03:55,300 Dating back to 7000 BC specifically figures of pine, 57 00:03:55,300 --> 00:03:58,200 trees depicted on boz's and potteries. 58 00:03:59,200 --> 00:04:02,700 What makes it particularly interesting is that pine trees 59 00:04:02,700 --> 00:04:05,100 have been used in art and ceremonies by other 60 00:04:05,100 --> 00:04:09,700 civilizations, including the Romans since they are Evergreen 61 00:04:09,800 --> 00:04:15,100 and seem to have eternal life. There are Any references to the 62 00:04:15,108 --> 00:04:18,899 Tree of Life throughout ancient cultures as an Imago Mundi, 63 00:04:19,200 --> 00:04:23,500 meaning the image of the world. For example in Nordic mythology 64 00:04:23,800 --> 00:04:28,400 the tree of life was massive and grew out of The Well of word 65 00:04:28,600 --> 00:04:32,700 which was an endless pole that held Universal wisdom and other 66 00:04:32,700 --> 00:04:36,000 powerful. Cosmic forces known as the eked 67 00:04:36,000 --> 00:04:39,700 result re its roots and branches help the nine worlds of the 68 00:04:39,700 --> 00:04:43,000 cosmos together. In fact, it was so important 69 00:04:43,000 --> 00:04:46,200 that the well-being of the Entire world depended on the 70 00:04:46,200 --> 00:04:51,300 trees own Vitality the Norse. God Odin wanted to possess the 71 00:04:51,300 --> 00:04:54,800 knowledge contained in the yggdrasil tree and The Well of 72 00:04:54,800 --> 00:04:58,600 Lord, thus to demonstrate his loyalty to this quest. 73 00:04:58,800 --> 00:05:02,800 After sacrificing his eye and throwing himself on his spear. 74 00:05:03,100 --> 00:05:07,600 He hanged himself from a branch nearly dying in the process. 75 00:05:08,300 --> 00:05:13,200 However, in the end, he survived gaining the knowledge of the 76 00:05:13,200 --> 00:05:17,200 universe. Greek mythology has a few 77 00:05:17,200 --> 00:05:20,800 different stories about magical trees which closely resemble the 78 00:05:20,800 --> 00:05:24,800 idea of the Tree of Life. In one story, Zeus marries the 79 00:05:24,800 --> 00:05:29,100 goddess of the Earth Gaia and from their Union, a giant oak 80 00:05:29,100 --> 00:05:34,300 tree sprouts in other versions as in the story of Osiris Zeus 81 00:05:34,300 --> 00:05:38,700 becomes part of the tree as with other tree of life stories, the 82 00:05:38,700 --> 00:05:42,300 roots of the Greeks world tree were said to reach Tartarus, the 83 00:05:42,300 --> 00:05:45,700 Greek underworld and its branches could reach the Stars 84 00:05:46,300 --> 00:05:49,200 in another myth, the Earth goddess Gaia planted. 85 00:05:49,200 --> 00:05:52,400 A magical Apple Tree. In Harris Garden as a wedding 86 00:05:52,400 --> 00:05:56,000 gift when she married Zeus like other world trees. 87 00:05:56,200 --> 00:06:00,600 Harris, Apple held parts of the universe together at first Hera 88 00:06:00,600 --> 00:06:03,000 appointed some nymphs to tend to the tree. 89 00:06:03,300 --> 00:06:07,800 However they proved unreliable. So Hara got a dragon named 90 00:06:07,800 --> 00:06:16,100 Lawson to guard the tree. What's especially compelling 91 00:06:16,100 --> 00:06:18,700 about this story? Is the similarity between 92 00:06:18,700 --> 00:06:21,600 Harrah's apple tree and the tree in the Garden of Eden. 93 00:06:22,600 --> 00:06:26,100 The Bible begins with the story of the Tree of Life, as one of 94 00:06:26,100 --> 00:06:30,200 the two trees, in the middle of the Garden of Eden, Adam, and 95 00:06:30,200 --> 00:06:34,000 Eve ate not of the tree of life, but of the tree of knowledge of 96 00:06:34,000 --> 00:06:37,400 Good and Evil. Because they age of this tree 97 00:06:37,600 --> 00:06:41,900 humankind was expelled from the garden of paradise and separated 98 00:06:41,900 --> 00:06:45,800 from the Tree of Life, less. They also eat from the Tree of 99 00:06:45,800 --> 00:06:49,300 Life and live forever in Judaism. 100 00:06:49,500 --> 00:06:52,200 The tree of life is seen as a source of life-giving 101 00:06:52,500 --> 00:06:55,700 representing the knowledge to live peacefully within the wider 102 00:06:55,700 --> 00:06:59,200 World. Thus the Torah is called the 103 00:06:59,200 --> 00:07:03,600 Tree of Life eats Haim and Hebrew offering a philosophy 104 00:07:03,600 --> 00:07:09,900 that makes life understandable and harmonious the qur'an's 105 00:07:09,900 --> 00:07:13,600 version of the Garden of Eden story, mentions a single tree. 106 00:07:13,700 --> 00:07:17,200 Tree the tree of Eternity and the kingdom that fail us. 107 00:07:17,200 --> 00:07:21,100 Not because they make the mistake of eating from the tree 108 00:07:21,500 --> 00:07:25,000 Allah sends Adam and Eve to Earth where they must live and 109 00:07:25,000 --> 00:07:27,100 learn to repent from their mistakes. 110 00:07:27,200 --> 00:07:31,200 However, Allah Usher's them that while on Earth, they will have 111 00:07:31,200 --> 00:07:35,100 guidance, thus the tree of immortality in the Quran 112 00:07:35,100 --> 00:07:38,600 represents repenting and learning from one's mistakes, as 113 00:07:38,600 --> 00:07:43,300 well as God's mercy. The early Irish believe that the 114 00:07:43,300 --> 00:07:47,500 tree of life was in the direct Center of Ireland, in County 115 00:07:47,500 --> 00:07:51,000 West Indies. In this way, the tree was viewed 116 00:07:51,000 --> 00:07:55,200 as an axis Mundi, the center of the world similar to the 117 00:07:55,200 --> 00:07:58,800 Aboriginal Australians and other ancient cultures. 118 00:07:59,100 --> 00:08:03,100 The Celts were animists, they believe the natural world was 119 00:08:03,100 --> 00:08:07,700 interconnected and that Spirits inhabit everything from trees to 120 00:08:07,700 --> 00:08:10,100 River Lakes, mountains and animals. 121 00:08:10,900 --> 00:08:14,300 The Celts depended greatly on trees for shelter building, 122 00:08:14,300 --> 00:08:19,700 materials food, shade and even Weaponry Central trees in a 123 00:08:19,707 --> 00:08:23,500 community were where political and spiritual ceremonies were 124 00:08:23,500 --> 00:08:27,500 held the ancient Celts. Also believe that empty space on 125 00:08:27,500 --> 00:08:31,000 a piece of ceremonial jewelry, Weaponry, or drink, we're 126 00:08:31,200 --> 00:08:34,200 allowed evil spirits to enter the artifact. 127 00:08:34,600 --> 00:08:38,400 This led to the development of intricate not work, Swirls and 128 00:08:38,400 --> 00:08:42,500 patterns, that echoed nature. One of the earliest and most 129 00:08:42,500 --> 00:08:46,400 used was the tree of life and these Artistic Styles are still 130 00:08:46,400 --> 00:08:53,000 seen today. Buddhism has a strong connection 131 00:08:53,000 --> 00:08:55,800 to the Tree of Life once Buddhist at beneath the Bodhi 132 00:08:55,800 --> 00:08:59,800 Tree and received Enlightenment. This tree has, now been known as 133 00:08:59,800 --> 00:09:03,300 the tree of wisdom in Buddhism, the Tree of Life symbolizes, 134 00:09:03,300 --> 00:09:08,100 personal development uniqueness, and individual Beauty, just as 135 00:09:08,100 --> 00:09:11,300 the branches of a tree strengthen and grow upwards to 136 00:09:11,300 --> 00:09:14,000 the sky. We too May grow, stronger, 137 00:09:14,300 --> 00:09:18,900 striving for greater knowledge, wisdom and new experiences as we 138 00:09:18,900 --> 00:09:21,900 move through life. So so how do we in our 139 00:09:21,900 --> 00:09:24,800 present-day? Connect with trees and gain 140 00:09:24,800 --> 00:09:28,800 strength and wisdom from them? We cannot speak directly with 141 00:09:28,800 --> 00:09:34,100 them and ask for guidance. Can we today's guest dr. 142 00:09:34,100 --> 00:09:37,900 Stephanie Casa has spent much time in conversation with trees 143 00:09:38,200 --> 00:09:41,700 and has authored a beautifully written and illustrated book to 144 00:09:41,700 --> 00:09:46,300 help and Inspire others to do the same and author scientist 145 00:09:46,300 --> 00:09:50,600 and educator dr. Casa is professor emeritus of 146 00:09:50,800 --> 00:09:52,900 Studies at the University of Vermont. 147 00:09:53,000 --> 00:09:57,000 Also, a longtime practitioner of Soto Zen, Buddhism with training 148 00:09:57,000 --> 00:10:00,600 at Green, Gulch Zen Center, California and further study 149 00:10:00,600 --> 00:10:04,700 with tick, Naughton and others. She is the author and editor of 150 00:10:04,700 --> 00:10:07,800 many books including green Buddhism, practice and 151 00:10:07,800 --> 00:10:11,700 compassionate action in uncertain times in her book 152 00:10:11,700 --> 00:10:15,200 conversations with trees. Dr. Casa used her background in 153 00:10:15,200 --> 00:10:19,700 spirituality and ecology to write autobiographical essays 154 00:10:19,900 --> 00:10:22,200 about her. Encounters with trees. 155 00:10:22,800 --> 00:10:26,100 It was such a pleasure to speak with Stephanie, her spiritual 156 00:10:26,100 --> 00:10:30,200 connection to trees and life work as an educator and Advocate 157 00:10:30,200 --> 00:10:34,200 is awe-inspiring, and she has much wisdom to share. 158 00:10:34,800 --> 00:10:45,400 Let's listen. Well, first of all, Stephanie, I 159 00:10:45,400 --> 00:10:48,500 just want to thank you so much for being with us today. 160 00:10:48,500 --> 00:10:51,400 I know, you're very busy person. Thank you for carving out the 161 00:10:51,400 --> 00:10:54,100 time. It's really a delight. 162 00:10:54,100 --> 00:10:56,400 People that love trees are my people. 163 00:10:56,700 --> 00:10:59,300 That means we're your people. So that's wonderful. 164 00:11:00,700 --> 00:11:04,100 We are very curious about the intersections of spirituality 165 00:11:04,100 --> 00:11:08,000 and trees and as someone whose work explores the intersection 166 00:11:08,000 --> 00:11:12,300 of religion and ecology, can you tell us How this journey began 167 00:11:12,300 --> 00:11:14,700 for you. Well, I could say that it was 168 00:11:14,700 --> 00:11:19,300 through reading a book or teaching a class, but honestly, 169 00:11:19,300 --> 00:11:23,300 I better start with the first key tree teachers in my backyard 170 00:11:23,300 --> 00:11:26,400 growing up. So first in Buffalo New York, 171 00:11:26,700 --> 00:11:31,300 there was a generous gracious, apple tree right in the backyard 172 00:11:31,600 --> 00:11:35,000 and I was lucky enough to have a bedroom with a little deck off 173 00:11:35,000 --> 00:11:36,700 at. That was right next to the apple 174 00:11:36,700 --> 00:11:39,200 tree. So, I spent hours out there, 175 00:11:39,200 --> 00:11:40,900 just watching the light and the shadow. 176 00:11:41,000 --> 00:11:43,700 Shadows. When I was like five and six and 177 00:11:43,700 --> 00:11:47,300 I will say, I'm extremely happy to be living on Portland Oregon 178 00:11:47,300 --> 00:11:51,000 with a big apple tree right outside the window where I'm 179 00:11:51,000 --> 00:11:56,400 sitting but then I also, as I became a teen, I was here in the 180 00:11:56,408 --> 00:12:01,000 Pacific Northwest and there was a big Ravine behind our house 181 00:12:01,000 --> 00:12:05,700 and it was filled with Douglas Firs and they're often walked 182 00:12:05,700 --> 00:12:07,800 the trails down by those Doug Firs. 183 00:12:08,100 --> 00:12:11,400 But at the very base of them by the creek was a stand of Five, 184 00:12:11,600 --> 00:12:16,800 giant redwood sequoias and that became a really important place 185 00:12:16,800 --> 00:12:21,000 of pilgrimage through my teens because it felt like a refuge a 186 00:12:21,008 --> 00:12:24,700 place of stability. And again, I'm not sure that I 187 00:12:24,700 --> 00:12:27,100 could have told you what the trees were teaching me. 188 00:12:27,500 --> 00:12:31,100 I just knew that was a really good place to be, that it felt 189 00:12:31,100 --> 00:12:34,300 safe and that most trees meant a lot to me. 190 00:12:34,700 --> 00:12:37,300 So the trees were first before Buddhism. 191 00:12:37,900 --> 00:12:40,800 Although I did spend a good chunk of my team. 192 00:12:40,900 --> 00:12:43,500 The hood also part of going to a church. 193 00:12:43,500 --> 00:12:46,200 So I'll give them some credit to the unitarians. 194 00:12:46,400 --> 00:12:49,100 And I mostly did it through music at that time. 195 00:12:49,500 --> 00:12:53,300 So music was a very important expression and when I went away 196 00:12:53,300 --> 00:12:57,700 to college, I went to Oberlin College where I could sing in 197 00:12:57,700 --> 00:13:01,600 the choir and also be a biology. Major was the perfect 198 00:13:01,600 --> 00:13:06,400 combination but that experience of Choral singing, I think 199 00:13:06,400 --> 00:13:10,400 developed a sense of resonance at a vibrational level for me. 200 00:13:11,200 --> 00:13:15,200 Is part of the way I relate to trees today, and I'm still 201 00:13:15,200 --> 00:13:18,900 singing in a choir. I really feel the human voice is 202 00:13:19,300 --> 00:13:22,500 a marvelous counterpart to the voices, you know, of all the 203 00:13:22,500 --> 00:13:26,500 other beings trees and birds. And so on, now, I was lucky to 204 00:13:26,500 --> 00:13:30,300 be at Oberlin spiritually because it had a long 205 00:13:30,300 --> 00:13:34,500 theological tradition, and also a very strong activist 206 00:13:34,500 --> 00:13:37,200 tradition. And I was there in the 60s, very 207 00:13:37,200 --> 00:13:40,600 formative time demonstrations in the streets, I grew up really 208 00:13:40,600 --> 00:13:41,300 fast. Fast. 209 00:13:41,400 --> 00:13:45,000 But what came through all this time and into my Buddhism was 210 00:13:45,200 --> 00:13:49,100 that spirituality and activism and engagement all go together. 211 00:13:49,400 --> 00:13:53,900 They're not separated. So as I went into my 20s, I know 212 00:13:53,900 --> 00:13:57,800 had been a biology major, I came to California, I learned all 213 00:13:57,800 --> 00:14:01,100 kinds of Natural History, I was birding and botanizing teaching 214 00:14:01,100 --> 00:14:05,100 outdoors. I had a long five years with the 215 00:14:05,100 --> 00:14:08,300 point raised bird Observatory and then the UC Berkeley botanic 216 00:14:08,300 --> 00:14:10,300 garden as their education director. 217 00:14:10,300 --> 00:14:13,500 So I was Teaching teaching people about the natural world 218 00:14:13,600 --> 00:14:18,300 and I did go on to finish your PhD in biology but in the middle 219 00:14:18,300 --> 00:14:22,800 of all that my modern dance teacher said you should come to 220 00:14:22,800 --> 00:14:25,800 naropa? I think you'd really like it. 221 00:14:26,800 --> 00:14:31,100 So, I went to naropa Institute in Boulder Colorado and I 222 00:14:31,100 --> 00:14:34,400 thought I would just hang out and go to poetry classes with 223 00:14:34,400 --> 00:14:38,700 Allen Ginsberg and take dance class, with Willie Worsley. 224 00:14:38,700 --> 00:14:42,400 It was an amazing time. And along the way, I learned to 225 00:14:42,400 --> 00:14:44,600 meditate, and I really took to it. 226 00:14:44,600 --> 00:14:49,500 It was just the most natural embodiment perhaps of, not just 227 00:14:49,500 --> 00:14:52,000 breathing, but of my understanding of Trina's. 228 00:14:52,000 --> 00:14:56,700 So I return to Santa Cruz. And then I went to live for a 229 00:14:56,700 --> 00:14:59,000 year on the land. I had to go do my hippie thing, 230 00:14:59,000 --> 00:15:04,200 but when I returned from making a lot of compost, I came to live 231 00:15:04,200 --> 00:15:06,400 at the Santa Cruz and center and there. 232 00:15:06,400 --> 00:15:10,900 I met my ordination teacher Cogan, she know so much 233 00:15:11,200 --> 00:15:16,300 Introduction to Buddhism was very filled with an experience 234 00:15:16,300 --> 00:15:19,800 of the Arts and of a kind of spontaneity. 235 00:15:19,800 --> 00:15:24,200 So I really took to Zen which is has that kind of flavor and 236 00:15:24,200 --> 00:15:29,000 koban himself is quite a poet and musician. 237 00:15:29,000 --> 00:15:32,100 He played the flute. He was a calligrapher and he was 238 00:15:32,100 --> 00:15:35,000 a very affirming and accepting teacher. 239 00:15:35,700 --> 00:15:39,600 And you won't be surprised to hear this, but the Rural 240 00:15:40,400 --> 00:15:42,100 Retreat. It's Center that he was 241 00:15:42,100 --> 00:15:46,400 associated with Chico. G was above the hills of Palo 242 00:15:46,400 --> 00:15:51,500 Alto and he was just fine with us sitting on the outdoor deck 243 00:15:51,600 --> 00:15:54,900 outside the zendo surrounded by Bay trees. 244 00:15:55,500 --> 00:15:58,600 So I often did that or did walking meditation on that 245 00:15:58,600 --> 00:16:01,500 outdoor deck. And in fact the very first tree 246 00:16:01,500 --> 00:16:04,300 piece I wrote for conversations with trees was written there by 247 00:16:04,300 --> 00:16:09,000 the pond at your Koji. So this is a long as story but I 248 00:16:09,008 --> 00:16:12,200 did go on to do a degree. Starr King school for the 249 00:16:12,200 --> 00:16:15,500 ministry and taught environmental ethics there and 250 00:16:15,500 --> 00:16:19,400 they're brought those Unitarian students out to meet my trees. 251 00:16:19,400 --> 00:16:22,300 Of course. And it was just my good fortune. 252 00:16:22,300 --> 00:16:25,700 That is, I started teaching at University of Vermont the entire 253 00:16:25,700 --> 00:16:29,100 field of religion in ecology had just kind of burst open. 254 00:16:29,100 --> 00:16:33,300 It took a long time to arrive and I came with environmental 255 00:16:33,300 --> 00:16:35,700 ethics and all this Buddhist training. 256 00:16:36,300 --> 00:16:39,400 But suddenly people, wanted someone who could speak to 257 00:16:39,400 --> 00:16:42,100 Buddhist philosophy. And address environmental 258 00:16:42,100 --> 00:16:45,700 concerns. So I just got on the bandwagon 259 00:16:45,700 --> 00:16:50,300 very early on lucky for me, lucky for you, and lucky for us. 260 00:16:50,300 --> 00:16:52,300 What? That thank you for sharing all 261 00:16:52,300 --> 00:16:55,600 that richness. It really sounds as though your 262 00:16:55,600 --> 00:16:59,500 journey with trees in your journey with Buddhism, really 263 00:16:59,900 --> 00:17:02,800 intertwined. So spontaneously, but also 264 00:17:02,800 --> 00:17:05,599 naturally. Now we're going to focus on your 265 00:17:05,599 --> 00:17:09,800 book conversations with trees within which you have a chapter 266 00:17:09,800 --> 00:17:14,400 called magnetic Presence in which you write some part of me 267 00:17:14,400 --> 00:17:17,800 is tree. Can you expand on this concept 268 00:17:17,800 --> 00:17:22,300 of being one with trees or a part of you being tree? 269 00:17:23,000 --> 00:17:27,400 So being one with trees, an easy thing to say, but what does it 270 00:17:27,400 --> 00:17:31,000 really mean in Zen Buddhist philosophy. 271 00:17:31,600 --> 00:17:35,100 There's a very strong emphasis on non-dualism. 272 00:17:35,500 --> 00:17:40,700 No separation between self and other any sense of separation or 273 00:17:40,800 --> 00:17:46,000 or over inflation of You Me. Mine eye is seen as a kind of 274 00:17:46,000 --> 00:17:49,300 delusion. Another way to think about that 275 00:17:49,300 --> 00:17:52,800 is Tick, not Hans word, interbeing, people, really like 276 00:17:52,800 --> 00:17:56,300 that because it gives you a sense of connection 277 00:17:56,300 --> 00:17:59,600 relationship, but it's always going on. 278 00:17:59,600 --> 00:18:03,100 His very famous meditation is about holding up a piece of 279 00:18:03,100 --> 00:18:08,700 paper and asking students to see the sky in the paper, see the 280 00:18:08,700 --> 00:18:11,400 water, see the soil and that piece of Paper. 281 00:18:12,100 --> 00:18:18,000 So we say the phrase, not one, not two, it's kind of a koan. 282 00:18:18,600 --> 00:18:22,300 So it's not, I am me. And there is a tree over there 283 00:18:22,400 --> 00:18:25,700 but there's something going on. You know, between us the way. 284 00:18:25,700 --> 00:18:29,600 I'm describing it these days is that I'm feeling part of a tree 285 00:18:29,600 --> 00:18:33,600 tribe and in particular, the conifers of the Pacific 286 00:18:33,600 --> 00:18:37,800 Northwest and I'm so happy to be back among my people again, 287 00:18:37,800 --> 00:18:40,700 after 24 years of being in Vermont. 288 00:18:40,900 --> 00:18:45,000 So I see, for example, Douglas fir is a strong and Stern kind 289 00:18:45,000 --> 00:18:48,600 of Elder teacher. Whereas Western red cedar is a 290 00:18:48,600 --> 00:18:53,100 warm and loving presence. I have visited an old-growth 291 00:18:53,100 --> 00:18:58,600 Grove of Sitka Spruce on the coast since I was a kid and I've 292 00:18:58,600 --> 00:19:01,500 been going back quite a bit since we moved back to Oregon 293 00:19:02,100 --> 00:19:05,700 and I've decided that I want to just offer my remains to that 294 00:19:05,700 --> 00:19:09,700 particular Forest so that whatever is left will indeed. 295 00:19:09,700 --> 00:19:13,500 Finally become part of Forest that's incredible. 296 00:19:13,600 --> 00:19:17,400 Thank you for sharing that you mentioned this concept of 297 00:19:17,800 --> 00:19:21,000 ecological sanity. Can you tell us what ecological 298 00:19:21,000 --> 00:19:24,600 sanity means to you? And why it is important? 299 00:19:24,900 --> 00:19:28,800 Well usually, when we use the word sanity were thinking about 300 00:19:28,800 --> 00:19:32,300 mental and physical health, emotional health, spiritual 301 00:19:32,300 --> 00:19:35,900 health. So you would infer ecological 302 00:19:35,900 --> 00:19:39,900 sanity is then about healthy relations with the ecological 303 00:19:39,900 --> 00:19:43,500 Realms that Support our human lives and of course support all 304 00:19:43,500 --> 00:19:46,800 the other beings in the world who deserve and need our 305 00:19:46,800 --> 00:19:49,800 respect. And I'm sorry to say as a 306 00:19:49,800 --> 00:19:53,000 planetary people were mostly acting in quite ecologically. 307 00:19:53,000 --> 00:19:58,100 Insane ways ignoring the wisdom of indigenous peoples of 308 00:19:58,100 --> 00:20:00,600 scientists and other world religions. 309 00:20:01,000 --> 00:20:04,800 There are different ways of describing this Insanity in kind 310 00:20:04,800 --> 00:20:08,400 of psychological term. Some call it an addiction to 311 00:20:08,400 --> 00:20:13,700 fossil fuels to Consumers, For example, or you might say it's 312 00:20:13,700 --> 00:20:17,500 out of kind of narcissism thinking, only of ourselves or 313 00:20:17,500 --> 00:20:20,100 ourselves. First human lives is dominant on 314 00:20:20,100 --> 00:20:23,400 the whole planet and some religious teachings reinforce 315 00:20:23,400 --> 00:20:27,400 that or you could say it's a kind of forgetfulness that we 316 00:20:27,600 --> 00:20:30,400 were just so absorbed in our lives that we forget everything 317 00:20:30,400 --> 00:20:33,200 else that's going on. So all of those are ways of 318 00:20:33,200 --> 00:20:36,600 being kind of a little insane and when you add them all up 319 00:20:36,600 --> 00:20:40,700 together, the impact is of a world that is going crazy. 320 00:20:40,800 --> 00:20:45,500 Crazy, it's going crazy. And it's ecological systems and 321 00:20:45,500 --> 00:20:50,200 the human political and economic systems are not strong enough to 322 00:20:50,200 --> 00:20:54,800 restore that ecological sanity in a unified way. 323 00:20:54,800 --> 00:20:58,900 Right now, there's very destructive things going on in 324 00:20:58,900 --> 00:21:03,200 our major forests of the Boreal lands, as well as the Amazon, 325 00:21:03,200 --> 00:21:08,100 and of course, war is never good for ecological systems. 326 00:21:08,100 --> 00:21:13,200 So, why ecological sanity is Important boils down to, it's 327 00:21:13,200 --> 00:21:17,200 the only way we will survive on this Earth, but I will say, at 328 00:21:17,200 --> 00:21:21,600 the very same time, there is a deepening sense of ourselves as 329 00:21:21,600 --> 00:21:25,000 planetary people. And there is a deepening sense 330 00:21:25,000 --> 00:21:29,800 that ecological sanity is possible and necessary and that 331 00:21:29,800 --> 00:21:35,600 it really requires us to use our spiritual practices to focus on 332 00:21:35,900 --> 00:21:40,000 what I'll call out three things here as a kind of part of our 333 00:21:40,000 --> 00:21:43,400 closing. You to focus on healing healing 334 00:21:43,400 --> 00:21:47,900 our relationships with trees. With each other, just stop 335 00:21:47,900 --> 00:21:49,700 cutting them. Stop burning them. 336 00:21:49,700 --> 00:21:54,600 Stop murdering them and with the land and and start working on 337 00:21:54,600 --> 00:21:59,500 the great course, correction, after these hundred years 200, 338 00:21:59,500 --> 00:22:04,000 300 years of plunder and it's an extraction and genocide. 339 00:22:04,000 --> 00:22:09,700 So healing is one great need building community and 340 00:22:09,708 --> 00:22:13,300 practicing. Tootie, understanding ourselves, 341 00:22:13,300 --> 00:22:18,300 as part of forest, part of neighborhood, part of the 342 00:22:18,300 --> 00:22:21,400 planet. And this shift I see happening 343 00:22:21,400 --> 00:22:25,000 more and more everywhere that is very, very encouraging. 344 00:22:25,400 --> 00:22:31,300 And both of these, I would say are about practice, what we do 345 00:22:31,300 --> 00:22:37,300 every day, how we show up, how we pay attention, how we choose 346 00:22:37,300 --> 00:22:40,300 to take ethical action working with others. 347 00:22:41,200 --> 00:22:46,300 Engaging in ritual and ceremony but always returning and this is 348 00:22:46,300 --> 00:22:51,100 a very important Buddhist theme. The daily practice of meditation 349 00:22:51,100 --> 00:22:55,300 or chanting are walking. So that Buddhist practiced, 350 00:22:55,400 --> 00:22:59,600 informs your path to ecological sanity. 351 00:23:00,200 --> 00:23:03,300 It was really wonderful how you laid that out for us in such a 352 00:23:03,308 --> 00:23:09,100 connected way. In conversations with trees, it 353 00:23:09,100 --> 00:23:14,200 was originally released in 1993. Does the book have resonance 354 00:23:14,200 --> 00:23:16,600 today? That is different from when it 355 00:23:16,600 --> 00:23:19,100 was first released, and what is it? 356 00:23:19,100 --> 00:23:22,000 Like, for you to go back to the stories and chapters, in the 357 00:23:22,008 --> 00:23:26,300 book, with years of life experience, since it was 358 00:23:26,300 --> 00:23:30,100 originally published, honestly it is a thrill. 359 00:23:30,600 --> 00:23:35,100 When I reread those stories, I think every word is true. 360 00:23:35,200 --> 00:23:38,300 That absolutely. And I can remember it in my 361 00:23:38,300 --> 00:23:41,000 body. They somehow have really held up 362 00:23:41,000 --> 00:23:45,500 and I, especially one of the best stories of the whole 363 00:23:45,500 --> 00:23:50,000 project is that when I decided, I really wanted an artist for 364 00:23:50,000 --> 00:23:51,400 the book. I thought it would just make the 365 00:23:51,400 --> 00:23:55,000 book, so much better. I was lucky enough to meet a 366 00:23:55,000 --> 00:23:58,700 person at a engaged. Buddhism Meditation Retreat, 367 00:23:58,700 --> 00:24:01,500 right? Before I moved to Vermont and he 368 00:24:02,000 --> 00:24:04,800 and I were both, of course, have been sitting all week long, so 369 00:24:04,800 --> 00:24:07,500 we're on some kind of wavelength And though I never met him 370 00:24:07,500 --> 00:24:10,900 before and he said, well, I might have a kind of drawings 371 00:24:10,900 --> 00:24:15,700 you're looking for, and he sent me a package, and I fell in love 372 00:24:15,700 --> 00:24:18,500 right there. And that's our love-story and 373 00:24:18,500 --> 00:24:22,300 today, now Davis and I have been married, 23 years, and he is 374 00:24:22,308 --> 00:24:25,500 still drawing trees. And I'm thrilled to have his 375 00:24:25,500 --> 00:24:29,900 drawings in the book and we really just decided the trees 376 00:24:29,900 --> 00:24:32,800 brought us together, but we can celebrate all that. 377 00:24:32,800 --> 00:24:36,400 So much more today because we don't we can we're not hiding. 378 00:24:36,500 --> 00:24:39,700 In a closet with it. When I would do reading this 379 00:24:40,100 --> 00:24:43,800 back then in the 90s people would sneak up to me afterwards 380 00:24:43,800 --> 00:24:46,100 and say, oh, I have a favorite tree. 381 00:24:46,300 --> 00:24:49,900 Can I tell you about my tree? They didn't want to talk too 382 00:24:49,900 --> 00:24:52,700 loud because they thought people would think they were crazy. 383 00:24:52,800 --> 00:24:57,600 But now it's everywhere, it's in the popular lexicon now and 384 00:24:57,600 --> 00:25:01,400 there's so much more awareness of trees, the importance of tree 385 00:25:01,400 --> 00:25:04,400 planning for urban cooling, as well as Aesthetics. 386 00:25:04,800 --> 00:25:08,400 So, I think the book really Lee holds up well and I'm glad it's 387 00:25:08,800 --> 00:25:11,000 in the company of other tree books. 388 00:25:11,000 --> 00:25:13,600 It has some friends on the Shelf. 389 00:25:13,600 --> 00:25:16,300 In fact we have one whole bookshelf that's nothing but 390 00:25:16,300 --> 00:25:19,300 tree books and our house. I'm thrilled that Shambhala 391 00:25:19,300 --> 00:25:23,000 wanted to re-release it again and I know their decision was 392 00:25:23,000 --> 00:25:26,600 because there's so much more receptivity and interest right 393 00:25:26,600 --> 00:25:30,900 now in the general population my producer and I both also have 394 00:25:30,900 --> 00:25:34,800 shelves of tree books, what an incredible story that love of 395 00:25:34,800 --> 00:25:37,100 trees brings so many people. Together. 396 00:25:37,500 --> 00:25:40,100 What trees are calling to you right now? 397 00:25:40,400 --> 00:25:43,100 Well, I'm really feeling it in Spring. 398 00:25:43,100 --> 00:25:47,300 It's so exciting. It's like the tree energy is 399 00:25:47,300 --> 00:25:50,900 really awakened, like, there's just surging energy between 400 00:25:50,900 --> 00:25:53,100 everything. It's really coercing out there 401 00:25:53,100 --> 00:25:56,000 and I have a feeling I'm supposed to be doing some more 402 00:25:56,000 --> 00:25:58,900 writing about trees. And so they are talking to me. 403 00:25:59,500 --> 00:26:04,500 And the one that I met recently is an enormous Western red 404 00:26:04,500 --> 00:26:06,200 cedar. It's called The Rock. 405 00:26:06,400 --> 00:26:09,100 Away Cedar. It's on the coast in Oregon just 406 00:26:09,100 --> 00:26:15,100 north of Tillamook Oregon. And it's a, Remnant old Cedar, a 407 00:26:15,100 --> 00:26:20,000 hundreds of years old enormous in scope, and it was kind of in 408 00:26:20,000 --> 00:26:23,400 a little Backwater behind a neighborhood, and people were 409 00:26:23,600 --> 00:26:26,500 just kind of creeping in on various paths here and there to 410 00:26:26,500 --> 00:26:28,800 see it. And it was annoying, the 411 00:26:28,800 --> 00:26:31,800 neighbors so much that finally, they decided to build a 412 00:26:31,800 --> 00:26:35,700 boardwalk through the Cedar, Swamp out to this beautiful 413 00:26:35,700 --> 00:26:38,700 Cedar. So when I visited this Cedar my 414 00:26:38,700 --> 00:26:41,000 first meeting, oh, I was so excited. 415 00:26:41,500 --> 00:26:45,200 All along the way on the boardwalk, were blooming skunk 416 00:26:45,200 --> 00:26:48,600 cabbage, just brilliant yellow, right and left, right? 417 00:26:48,600 --> 00:26:52,200 And hundreds of them. So I was hitting a peak moment 418 00:26:52,200 --> 00:26:55,800 energetically in this spring swamp and I was already very 419 00:26:55,800 --> 00:26:59,600 excited by the time I got to the Cedar and looking at different 420 00:26:59,600 --> 00:27:02,900 Cedars along the way. Is this it is this it and then 421 00:27:02,900 --> 00:27:06,300 when I got to the big one I just couldn't move for a while. 422 00:27:06,400 --> 00:27:11,500 While I stayed, I don't know an hour or more, and, and I knew 423 00:27:11,500 --> 00:27:14,900 the message was, you have to write about Cedars. 424 00:27:14,900 --> 00:27:17,100 I'll give you all the information you want. 425 00:27:17,100 --> 00:27:20,000 Just keep coming back to me. Don't ever forget that? 426 00:27:20,000 --> 00:27:23,400 I'm here for you and I will give you the energy. 427 00:27:23,400 --> 00:27:25,800 You need to complete what you're supposed to be doing. 428 00:27:25,800 --> 00:27:31,100 Now, it was, so I'm saying it in words, but words are not really 429 00:27:31,100 --> 00:27:33,900 the way it was coming through. Obviously, trees, don't speak 430 00:27:33,900 --> 00:27:39,200 English, but it came kind of The heart and part of what it 431 00:27:39,200 --> 00:27:44,000 enabled me to do was sort of look at what else was coming to 432 00:27:44,000 --> 00:27:46,200 me. Like, where else am I picking 433 00:27:46,200 --> 00:27:48,300 up? Very faint, clues, or little 434 00:27:48,300 --> 00:27:53,400 seed somewhere out there in the cosmos when I can't wait to hear 435 00:27:53,400 --> 00:27:58,100 through you, what the trees are saying and what the trees are 436 00:27:58,100 --> 00:28:01,000 sharing. Thank you so much for joining us 437 00:28:01,000 --> 00:28:02,000 today. Stephanie. 438 00:28:02,000 --> 00:28:06,300 We are so inspired by the seeds. You've planted towards action. 439 00:28:06,300 --> 00:28:08,100 Russian. And that is both Inward and 440 00:28:08,100 --> 00:28:12,200 outward towards a deeper understanding of ourselves, and 441 00:28:12,300 --> 00:28:16,400 towards healing and creating more sustainable lives for one 442 00:28:16,400 --> 00:28:20,100 another, and we look forward to all the wisdom and Beauty 443 00:28:20,500 --> 00:28:24,900 forthcoming from you as well. Thank you, it, really welcome. 444 00:28:24,900 --> 00:28:27,400 I'm thrilled that you're doing this and I wish you all the luck 445 00:28:27,400 --> 00:28:30,100 in the world. I hope you get a wide wide 446 00:28:30,100 --> 00:28:32,500 listenership. As you said at the beginning, 447 00:28:32,500 --> 00:28:35,800 we're hoping to find more of our people more of our tree people. 448 00:28:36,400 --> 00:28:40,300 And two to share with others how their treat people, whether they 449 00:28:40,300 --> 00:28:51,600 realize it or not wonderful. I was struck by the clarity, 450 00:28:51,600 --> 00:28:56,500 Stephanie has when she speaks about and with trees, she knows 451 00:28:56,500 --> 00:29:00,000 them on a biological level but also views the world 452 00:29:00,000 --> 00:29:03,400 holistically her stories center around trees. 453 00:29:03,400 --> 00:29:08,500 As living sentient, the sedentary beings and find ways 454 00:29:08,500 --> 00:29:12,000 to converse with them by giving those interactions space and 455 00:29:12,000 --> 00:29:15,900 time. It takes a lot of effort and 456 00:29:15,900 --> 00:29:19,400 patience to understand a human on many levels. 457 00:29:19,800 --> 00:29:24,800 So, too with a tree Carol Cusack, professor of religious 458 00:29:24,800 --> 00:29:28,800 studies at the University of Sydney wrote that the powerful 459 00:29:28,800 --> 00:29:32,800 and evocative place that trees. Hold in the human imagination, 460 00:29:33,200 --> 00:29:37,700 which is apparent in religious, and spiritual context is due to 461 00:29:37,700 --> 00:29:42,200 their kinship with human beings. Their substitutability is due to 462 00:29:42,200 --> 00:29:45,600 there being different. Yay, continuous with humans in 463 00:29:45,600 --> 00:29:50,100 that they both share life. This is the work that Stephanie 464 00:29:50,100 --> 00:29:54,900 does to make it clear that trees are alive, worthy of large 465 00:29:54,900 --> 00:29:59,400 myths, and religious symbolism, and also our personal intimate 466 00:29:59,400 --> 00:30:04,500 relation to them in our everyday lives in her book conversations 467 00:30:04,500 --> 00:30:08,300 with trees. Stephanie writes, quote trees 468 00:30:08,300 --> 00:30:11,700 have historically and mythologically represented many 469 00:30:11,700 --> 00:30:16,100 things the Tree of Life. Axis of the earth tribal 470 00:30:16,100 --> 00:30:21,200 ancestors, home of spirits. But my efforts here awkward as 471 00:30:21,200 --> 00:30:25,500 it feels at times is to try to speak directly with trees. 472 00:30:26,500 --> 00:30:30,700 She continues quote in these meetings of trees and person. 473 00:30:30,700 --> 00:30:36,000 I allow myself to see and also be seen by trees as in most good 474 00:30:36,000 --> 00:30:38,900 conversations. There is the desire for more 475 00:30:38,900 --> 00:30:43,500 contact more time together and more depth to cultivate this 476 00:30:43,800 --> 00:30:48,100 tunity will require a level of Love effort and spiritual 477 00:30:48,100 --> 00:30:52,000 Integrity that I can only just begin to imagine. 478 00:30:52,800 --> 00:30:57,100 Stephanie has put in that love and effort over years to develop 479 00:30:57,100 --> 00:30:59,500 her own relationships with trees. 480 00:31:00,600 --> 00:31:04,800 What would you like to speak to a tree about what do trees mean, 481 00:31:04,800 --> 00:31:08,400 or symbolize to you? And how about the Tree of Life, 482 00:31:08,900 --> 00:31:11,400 does it hold meaning for you? At this time? 483 00:31:12,000 --> 00:31:16,100 I've always loved seeing the Tree of Life in art, from Gustav 484 00:31:16,100 --> 00:31:20,700 Klimt to jewelry and a multitude of interpretations in between, 485 00:31:21,600 --> 00:31:25,200 yet I struggle to find my own unique connection with the tree 486 00:31:25,200 --> 00:31:28,800 of life. However, doing research for this 487 00:31:28,800 --> 00:31:33,500 episode has been I love learning about the many ways, the tree of 488 00:31:33,500 --> 00:31:38,600 life has been a part of cultures and civilizations, it all shows 489 00:31:38,600 --> 00:31:41,900 me that there are many access points to connecting with the 490 00:31:41,900 --> 00:31:45,600 Tree of Life. Maybe I simply need to broaden 491 00:31:45,600 --> 00:31:49,100 my view all trees. Give life without trees. 492 00:31:49,100 --> 00:31:53,300 There would be no human beings. We are in a deep relationship 493 00:31:53,300 --> 00:31:57,100 with one another. I constantly learned from trees 494 00:31:57,100 --> 00:32:00,200 and receive sustenance knowledge and health. 495 00:32:00,600 --> 00:32:05,500 And inspiration. This week we are celebrating 496 00:32:05,500 --> 00:32:09,600 another powerful force of creation, love and sustenance 497 00:32:10,000 --> 00:32:12,900 mothers. In honor of the upcoming 498 00:32:12,900 --> 00:32:16,100 Mother's Day. My producer, Jonathan and I have 499 00:32:16,100 --> 00:32:20,200 asked our mothers to share a sapling or short tree related 500 00:32:20,200 --> 00:32:24,100 story of their very own. We take this time to honor our 501 00:32:24,100 --> 00:32:27,800 own mothers and the mother figures around us, extending 502 00:32:27,800 --> 00:32:30,300 this biological definition out to cover. 503 00:32:30,300 --> 00:32:32,900 Anyone who has brought something to life. 504 00:32:33,800 --> 00:32:38,100 Or who Foster's the growth of another, to be a mother. 505 00:32:38,100 --> 00:32:43,700 Can take many forms even that of a mother tree and we pay tribute 506 00:32:43,700 --> 00:32:48,200 to you all. Now, here is Miriam and Marie. 507 00:32:48,500 --> 00:32:58,400 And Jackie, our apartment building was built in whole on 508 00:32:58,400 --> 00:33:01,700 near and already established neighborhood. 509 00:33:01,800 --> 00:33:06,000 It was beautiful. It was All one stories with a 510 00:33:06,000 --> 00:33:09,600 big front yard and my pediatrician lived in one of 511 00:33:09,600 --> 00:33:13,000 these houses. And I could go to her without my 512 00:33:13,000 --> 00:33:18,700 parents because it was two or three streets, over no traffic, 513 00:33:18,900 --> 00:33:20,800 they weren't many cars back then. 514 00:33:21,000 --> 00:33:28,100 And I went to the pediatrician and whenever she had to give us 515 00:33:28,100 --> 00:33:32,800 a shot or do something that would be mildly painful. 516 00:33:33,000 --> 00:33:36,600 They felt so, Badly. So and she was a very practical 517 00:33:36,600 --> 00:33:40,800 woman there. She spoke to the point, not 518 00:33:41,100 --> 00:33:44,500 spoiling you in any way, but she felt so badly. 519 00:33:44,500 --> 00:33:48,600 After giving her a shot that she would walk you out to the front 520 00:33:48,600 --> 00:33:56,100 yard on your way home and pick a mango from her mango tree and 521 00:33:56,200 --> 00:34:01,100 give it to you as a surprise to to break home and mango trees 522 00:34:01,100 --> 00:34:06,800 were very rare back then. So it was always a treat. 523 00:34:08,500 --> 00:34:14,000 So actually, before I transform the on the way to school, I walk 524 00:34:14,000 --> 00:34:20,500 to on paved road for the most part until I got to an area 525 00:34:20,500 --> 00:34:25,000 where it was June's again and I had to cross the tunes to get to 526 00:34:25,000 --> 00:34:29,400 school and in the middle of the dunes were sycamore tree. 527 00:34:29,699 --> 00:34:35,100 And but it was the most wonderful tree because Tag, very 528 00:34:35,100 --> 00:34:39,900 strong branches low enough for us to climb on and then climb 529 00:34:39,900 --> 00:34:43,199 higher and higher. It was halfway to the school and 530 00:34:43,199 --> 00:34:47,600 that's where we had all our meetings from second grade to 531 00:34:47,600 --> 00:34:51,500 eighth grade are socializing, was in this sense, sycamore 532 00:34:51,500 --> 00:34:53,699 tree. And then when they continued 533 00:34:53,699 --> 00:34:59,500 building the city around and they built on the dunes, luckily 534 00:34:59,700 --> 00:35:03,600 they preserve the tree, they built a little rotary for the 535 00:35:03,700 --> 00:35:06,100 Cars to go around it and it's still there. 536 00:35:19,000 --> 00:35:22,600 It's a beautiful spring morning, in San Diego, California, and 537 00:35:22,600 --> 00:35:26,100 I'm sitting under our enormous Pine Tree in what we call the 538 00:35:26,100 --> 00:35:31,100 lower 48 and our big backyard. The lowest Branch was bedecked, 539 00:35:31,100 --> 00:35:35,600 with a red sleeve of ogun Bia. Perfect for the person that's 540 00:35:35,600 --> 00:35:39,100 Grand Tree is named for Grandma Margaret. 541 00:35:39,600 --> 00:35:42,800 Not truly our children's grandmother Margaret was 542 00:35:42,800 --> 00:35:45,600 everything. I could have hoped for kind 543 00:35:45,600 --> 00:35:49,700 generous and loving and was the perfect surrogate for my mother 544 00:35:49,700 --> 00:35:53,300 who had recently passed. She came to our home each 545 00:35:53,300 --> 00:35:56,700 Tuesday morning so that I could run errands and enjoy a cup of 546 00:35:56,700 --> 00:35:59,200 coffee. After calling it our little 547 00:35:59,200 --> 00:36:03,000 bargain, this went on for several years until Grandma 548 00:36:03,000 --> 00:36:06,800 Margaret It's wonderful and generous Spirit fell victim to 549 00:36:06,800 --> 00:36:11,400 the cruelty of Alzheimer's. One of our last visits during 550 00:36:11,400 --> 00:36:15,400 Christmas time, her daughter gave us a small living pine tree 551 00:36:15,400 --> 00:36:19,400 from the supermarket. Little did we know that once the 552 00:36:19,400 --> 00:36:23,300 small tree chick route, it would take over an entire Corner, 553 00:36:23,600 --> 00:36:26,500 providing shelter and shade Grandma. 554 00:36:26,500 --> 00:36:31,100 Margaret Street is a testament to her beauty tenacity, strength 555 00:36:31,100 --> 00:36:34,500 and Faith. You Mother's Day, Margaret. 556 00:36:43,300 --> 00:36:48,700 I've always had an affinity for trees, tree blossoms, in spring 557 00:36:49,300 --> 00:36:55,500 summer shade trees, trees and Rich fall colors and how would a 558 00:36:55,500 --> 00:37:00,900 fir trees by writing an essay on the apple trees in our yard and 559 00:37:00,900 --> 00:37:03,500 what they meant to me when I was a third grader. 560 00:37:03,700 --> 00:37:08,100 I won an evergreen tree from a local nursery and my class was 561 00:37:08,100 --> 00:37:11,100 invited to our house to see the tree planted. 562 00:37:11,600 --> 00:37:15,800 It was an exciting event. Many years later, as an 563 00:37:15,800 --> 00:37:20,200 elementary music educator I continued to share a love for 564 00:37:20,200 --> 00:37:25,600 trees through song and poetry such as Kilmer's famous poem 565 00:37:25,600 --> 00:37:31,300 trees kindergartners saying mr. Rogers Tree song and older 566 00:37:31,300 --> 00:37:33,500 students learned about the Redwoods. 567 00:37:33,800 --> 00:37:37,500 Through Woody Guthrie's. This land is your land to name 568 00:37:37,500 --> 00:37:42,400 just a few of the opportunities I had for incorporating trees 569 00:37:42,700 --> 00:37:49,100 into music curriculum before we built a home. 35 years ago, my 570 00:37:49,100 --> 00:37:53,900 husband planted hundreds of evergreen trees and hauled water 571 00:37:53,900 --> 00:37:58,100 for their survival prior to their being an available water 572 00:37:58,100 --> 00:38:03,700 source on the land, we added beloved, birch trees, and when I 573 00:38:03,700 --> 00:38:08,700 planted another favorite a Willow in the absence of rope to 574 00:38:08,700 --> 00:38:13,400 stake it, I had to use. What was on hand speaker wire, 575 00:38:14,200 --> 00:38:19,800 which somehow seemed apropos for a music teacher today that tree 576 00:38:19,800 --> 00:38:25,600 sores 40 feet in the air and the wind still sings a sweet melody 577 00:38:25,600 --> 00:38:33,500 through its willowy branches. I see trees of green red. 578 00:38:33,600 --> 00:38:41,400 Red roses too. I see them bloom for me and you 579 00:38:42,400 --> 00:38:49,000 and I think to myself What a Wonderful World. 580 00:38:54,300 --> 00:38:56,900 Thank you for joining tree speech today.