PINUS PINEA IS MY NAME
My home lies on the Mediterranean Sea. Once, I fell from a cone and took root here. The sand felt scratchy with quartz and dry from the scorching sun. I sent down my root, like an explorer, in search of moisture and a place to take hold. Even today, I burrow deeper and taste the palate of the earth in all its colors. From water, I gain my sustenance, my will, my inner flow. Water is my lifeblood and my most cherished fare. But above all, I love the air. The air around has a landscape of its own and invites me to travel on its pathways. Air carries scents to me from abroad and the radiant light of the sun. At night, I drape the air’s dark fabric over me like a velvet translucent cape, soon to be melted away as birds summon the morning sun to rise.
I yearn to spread my wings and fly away over this wide blue expanse. Yet, the earth is my motherland, and I am bound to it like a star to the sky.
Feeling like an eagle, I tighten my grasp on the earth’s stony structures below. Holding its substance in my claws, I raise my head and look to the sky. My feathery needles tickle the clouds’ underbellies, and in response, they send winds gushing down upon me. Like a bird ready to take flight, I dare to stretch out, seemingly beyond the point of healthy balance. I seek the horizon and would prefer to disappear there. I seek to follow the ships crossing the sea. I see fish cutting their shimmering tracks in the deep blue, and my longings go with them. Yet, only my honey-sweet fragrances are free to travel. Only they carry my calls and my messages to faraway places.
The tragedy of my existence lies in my inability to fly, in my inability to wander. My steadfastness inhibits my quest for travel and my desire to learn more about the other shores of this majestic sea. Nevertheless, I am content. I am committed to being here. One day, I will fall. One day, my body will lie like a shipwreck on the shore. Then the waves may take me and carry me away to the lands that dwell beyond.
Home:
Greece, Chalkidiki, Kassandra Peninsula, Afytos
Tree species:
Pinus pinea
Tree family:
Pinaceae
Common Names:
Mediterranean stone pine, umbrella pine, parasol pine
Motivation:
There’s always something special about the Mediterranean Sea. This magic comes not only from the glistening salt water. The allure of the Mediterranean originates from the sweet spicy scents emanating from the ever-present forests of pine along its coasts. A taste of freedom and adventure lies in the air.