The Beauty of the Forest

The air grows perceptibly quieter as you near a forest, as if respectful of the great sanctuary it embraces. The trees and leaves sway slowly in soft breezes, weaving themselves into an incredibly complex tapestry of bold, rustic colors. From a distance the colors of leaves and trunks and moss and weeds blend so well that you, observing them, do not notice when you stop admiring the green and go into raptures over the orange.

The scent of newly fallen rain wafts toward you as you approach the trees. The smell of earth and sap and life all around you is almost tangible to the point where you can taste it, a tangy and intoxicating food such as the gods might eat.

The sweet chirps of songbirds greet your ears when strolling through the woods. If you listen closely you might pick up the rustles of small animals in the underbrush. The sounds come together to make a calm, soothing symphony that recalls the beginning, when music like this was the only thing to be heard.

It takes only a touch then to fully become one with your serene surroundings. Maybe if you run your fingers through the soft earth you will understand how so seemingly simple and humble a substance can support all life. Maybe if you only feel the dewy petals of a wildflower you can learn the secret of how to keep the planet as perfect as that blossom for all eternity. Perhaps if you place your hand on the rough bark of a tree some of that spirit that pervades the forest, that you feel is there inside but is just out of your grasp, will become a part of you forever. All seems possible at such a moment.

To leave behind this ancestral beauty to return to the modern world is a great tragedy, but if you are lucky you will take with you a little of that peace found so easily among the trees. This great gift of the forest is one that never leaves us.

Copyright © 2002 Colleen Fischer | Last updated October 7, 2002