The Forest

For as long as I can remember, trees have played a key role in my life, and my consciousness. Trees are majestic, silent wardens of all life on earth, an integral part of the overall health of our entire planet. Together, as a forest, they act as sanctuaries for wildlife, inspiration for our most imaginitive tales and a stark reminder of the power, beauty and diversity of nature.

Yet every tree begins life as nothing more than a tiny, fragile sapling, blown about by the winds, trampled beneath hooves and buried amongst regular autumn castoffs from the canopy above.

Whether I travel just a few minutes into a forest, or deep into its heart, I find myself immediately transported from the world I occupy outside of it. I begin to think on time scales that are centuries long, and I marvel at trees like Methuselah or Pando, the stories they could share, and the connections to periods of time we cannot even imagine.

Amongst the trees, a profound respect for nature, and for life in general, is inescapable. For that reason, I cannot think of a more fitting space to kick off this series.

I took this photgraph on an leisurely hike deep into Pescadero Creek Park near Loma Mar, CA. The audio is from VKProduktion on freesound.org.

All content is © 2016 Benjamin Listwon unless otherwise noted.