Trees are friends
On getting to know your neighbourhood mainstays.
When I was doing my master’s, I moved to my mum’s place in Dorset. It was at the height of covid and every day, the biggest item on my agenda apart from reading and online lectures was walking the dogs in the forest down the road. My whole life at the time pretty much revolved around sitting at my desk and stomping down the same muddy path through Fifehead Wood.
The thing about walking through the same woods every day for an entire year is that you grow extremely familiar with their seasonal intricacies: a little sprouting acorn, a big frilly mushroom fanning out from a tree trunk, a heron’s nest perched on the highest of branches. Each day on my hour-long loop, I’d spot new plants and patterns, and each day I felt closer to this little patch of wilderness. In a time of extreme disconnection, it gave me roots.
A big part of this daily meander was learning the names of the trees and bushes and brambles. And with the help of my plant-identifying app (I use one called Candide), we got properly introduced. Big old Oaks, Field Maples, Sycamore. But also Primrose and Bluebells and Cow Parsley and things with totally ridiculous names like Greater Stitchwort and Lesser Periwinkle and Weeping Sedge, and most importantly Sticky Willy. The simple act of putting their faces to their names made me feel all the more connected to this place I was spending so much time in. And once you’ve learnt someone’s name, it’s a lot easier to care about them.
Now that I’m not in the countryside anymore and am realising how easy it is to get swept up in my very busy and important city life, I’ve been spending more time in the Common near my house. Getting to know the Hawthorns and the Cherries (can you believe that? Cherry trees!) and the Beeches and the Birches that I used to just jog right past. It feels nice to get to know them a bit better, like getting to know a neighbour.
And I know that I’m not alone in this.
When I mentioned the idea for this newsletter to my friend Gigi, she told me that when she moved to London, she needed to find ways of grounding herself amidst the chaos of her new life. So on a walk around London Fields one day, she chose a tree to call her own. From then on, each time she was in the park she would go to that tree, tidy up any rubbish around it, touch its trunk, and say hello.
So if you’re feeling a little disconnected from where you are right now, might I suggest starting with the trees? They really do make good friends.
See you in the next one in two weeks time.
Annabel
The trees are the best combination of a fine friend. Solid, dependable, changeable through the seasons, alive to the weather and, most of all, just there when you need a signpost.