When studying in college, I began to investigate for the first time my Lithuanian heritage. I found trees significant in Lithuanian folklore. In Lithuanian culture every tree and flower exudes life energy. The miraculous trees in Lithuania folklore are the oak (azhuolas), linden (liepa), birch (beržas), ash (uosio), and spruce (eglė). In the Palouse region where I live, I have been fascinated by the western red cedar. There are a few old growth cedar groves close by that I enjoy to hike in.
My partner, Melissa, and I share our backyard with a beautiful western red cedar that has shown its steady presence through what any given day might bring. On warm summer days I’ve relaxed in the gift of its shadows, listening to the birdsong coming from its depths. I have sat up at night listening to the winds blow its branches and have felt the dripping of rain and melting of snow. All the while it remains steady and rooted. I am grateful for its teaching and for those I’ve walked by and shared here, and for those not shared here.
<< Swimming Mountains – Craters of the Moon | Light in Dark >>