Talking To Trees
Is not necessarily a one-way conversation
I think some of the most exciting news in science these days is the discovery that trees talk. They literally communicate with each other through a vast underground network that allows them to care and watch out for each other.
This doesn’t really surprise me. Well, it does, actually, yet when I first read about tree-talk, I felt the thrill of having a secret theory I had never shared with anyone suddenly and delightfully proved.
Ever since I was little, I have loved talking to trees.
Even today, taking my usual four-mile walk along the country roads in my neighborhood, I could not help exclaiming to the golden-leaved trees ,“How gorgeous you look! The sunshine today is making you glow like warm honey!”
I can’t say that I stopped to hear their reply. At least not a spoken reply directed to me.
However, a sudden gust of wind shook the tree as I spoke. Down came a cascade of bright yellow leaves. Each leaf, I swear, seemed to sail my way, swirl around my feet, and then settle a few steps ahead of me.
I think that trees don’t just talk. I think they listen too.
Some of the sounds they hear must frighten them. The crackle of a fire. The rumble of a bulldozer. And certainly…