Tree whisperer.

I love trees, they give us so much in our lives, sustainance,(food, oxygen, energy, ) beauty, emotional support, and preservation (erosion control, shade, habitat for life). On my piece of paradise where I live, I have an oak and pine forest to roam in, cool down in the shade on hot days, view the wildlife that inhabits the forest, and just enjoy the beauty that it gives to the landscape, which calms me by its serenity and timelessness. There is hundred year old oaks on my land, maybe older. And then there are the redwood trees, small groves scattered around. They change the climate and the temperature. On very hot days, the oaks and pines provide shade and protection from the direct rays of the sun, but it is still hot. But walk under a redwood tree, and the temperature drops about 5 to 10 degrees Fahrenheit. If you walk in a large redwood forest, like in Humboldt county, Northern California, it is cold and damp on a hot day, and winter can be downright miserable.

And if you go to an old growth forest or just a grove of giant Sequoia redwoods like in Yosemite National Forest, where the trees are thousands of years old and very tall and magestic, you are stunned at how incredible they are. They talk to your soul.

I have walked in many forests, and they are all different in their own way. In Africa ( Zimbabwe, South Africa, Zambia) the forests are filled with life, birds, monkeys, dangerous animals like elephants, Cape Buffalo, Wilebeest, Warthogs, Hippo, Baboons, Lions and Cheetahs), and back in the day when there was a civil war in what was Rhodesia before it became Zimbabwe, hostile enemy combatants that were trying to kill you. Insects always were attacking you, mosquitos, tsetse flies, or just flies in swarms to make your life miserable. But even so, the forests were spectacular, acacia trees which were loved by giraffe, Mukwa trees, which were loved by the native artisans who carved beautiful statues and animal replicas, and firewood. The locals depended on the forests to survive. And then there was the rain forest by Victoria Falls, which was green and lush from all the water spray from the Zambezi River plunging over the gorge which the locals call the smoke that thunders.

Thick vines dangle from the branches, and as a kid I would ride them like a Tarzan of the jungle from tree to tree, like in the movies, yodeling. It was so much fun.

‘Then there were the dense tropical forests like in the Philippines, where you fought the dense forest of trees and vines and tall thick grass with a machete just to walk through the forest on thin overgrown trails, all the while the oppressive heat baked your brain, and insects sucked you dry of your blood. Everything was trying to hurt you, thorns, razor blade sharp leaves, I try to avoid those forests! Not fun.

But the best forests I have walked in and through were the coastal forests of the Baltic countries of Latvia and Lithuania.

They are only about 1/4 to 1/2 mile wide, filled with tall pine trees. There is vines and bushes scattered under the trees as well. What makes these forests so special is the climate in them, cool but not cold, serene, peaceful, not too dense that you struggle to travel through the trees, no dangerous animals, and the wind that blows high up in the top branches make the tree trunks creak and groan softly , so that it sounds like they are talking to you. The forest is so quiet and these countries are so small and underpopulated that I have never encountered other hikers on the trail when I’m walking with my wife. We are the only people on the earth there, listening and talking to the trees. What are they saying to us? I like to think the trees are telling us “welcome, you are safe here. Enjoy. Come back soon, we want you here with us. ”

They are my friends. The forest is my community. I love them all, even the harsh ones.