I AM THE EUROPEAN BEECH
I am the mother of the forest. With my inquisitive roots, I burrow deep into the earth. With the seasons, I build up layer upon layer of nutrients to cradle and feed my many offspring. My strong, upright trunk lifts me and everything around me up to the skies. I extend my intertwined hands and arms upward. Like fluted pillars in a grand forest temple, they support a lush green latticed roof and form an airy space below. Thus, I shape the forest. In doing so, I create chambers where children can play, and I shield them with my silvery coat and woody armor. I give forest creatures room to hunt and pathways to frolic on. I weave a protective organic blanket, quilted in colors of the seasons, to comfort and provide warmth to those who seek rest.
Great expectations do I place in each of my seeds. Only a lucky few will develop and grow as big as I do, but the idea, the potential to grow, is contained in each.
The animals of the forest know this and either feast on my seeds in a frenzy of appetite or cleverly store them away in secret hideaways for future consumption. If forgotten, my seeds may well sprout and thrive on their own. And so, I also set the table and prepare the sustenance of the forest.
I am guided in all my doings by the rhythms of the sun and moon, in harmony with the celestial tides of time. When the warmth arrives, I stretch my limbs and pump up the nourishment from below to create the leaves and buds of the season. As the days shorten, I know when to pull back, to let go of my colored cape, to enrich the soil at my base, and to cover the forest floor. Much like a mother, I place my children at my feet and abide in wakeful stillness.
Home:
Germany, Düsseldorf-Angermund, Forest Park of the Heltorf Castle
Tree species:
Fagus sylvatica
Tree family:
Fagaceae, beech
Common Names:
European beech, copper beech, Rotbuche (German)
Motivation:
Beech trees have always fascinated me. On this particular spring day, I felt a very tangible, prickling energy in the air. Every being of the forest seemed to be related to and correlated with every other being. Altogether, the woods were alive in a symphony of color and fragrant expression.