When I was a boy, I had an imaginary friend. A talking tree who I aptly named, “Mr. Tree”. Clearly, I had expended the majority of my creative energy on his story rather than his name. At any rate, he lived atop the hill behind my house, tucked comfortably between two large boulders. I spent many wonderful summer days in his company, climbing and playing. Apparently, at some point, I stopped talking about him, and when asked about his recent absence, I told my family that he’d moved to Boston.
I’m not sure which saddens me more, the fact that this may have marked the start of a gradual process of growing up, or, that trees actually can’t move. Or, can they?
What Can We Learn From Trees?
You see, as I’ve grown older, and studied in more depth, I am amazed by how mobile, intelligent and collaborative trees actually are. The Hidden Life of Trees: What They Feel, How They Communicate — Discoveries from a Secret World by Peter Wohlleben eloquently describes the living, sensory, communicative organisms in a way that resonated with me. For example, when attacked by pests or parasites, trees can quickly react by emitting chemicals that make their leaves less tasty. And if that weren’t enough, the trees of the forest are interconnected, underground, via their roots, and can use this network to transmit stimulus by which the rest of the grove can be warned. The other trees, in turn, may emit the same chemical proactively to help protect against infestation.
Intuitively, man has always felt there is something to learn from the forest and has consistently personified it in stories. Not that it was necessarily needed, but the science is substantiating that intuition. Bailey, like so many of us, is off on a roaming adventure, and although Mr. Tree doesn’t fully convince her, he gives her a little push back towards home. I believe that’s the inspiration for Wherever You Roam, our insistence that something more is out there and the gentle wisdom of nature consistently reminding us of our beautiful, special place in the world.
“I’m sorry, big tree, I just wish to be free,
Adventure so fills my soul.”
“Pup, I’ll spend my entire lot in this one single spot,
And I tell you, my life is still whole.”
