The Beech 🌳 and the Hemlock 🌲
Sharing center stage
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It was late October, and I was walking in the woods, noticing that most of the splashy Maples had dropped their leaves. The forest floor looked like a painter’s palette.
I turned down a path and saw the forest lit by the splendor of Beech trees.
She lit up the woods.
I heard them calling to me.
“Write about us!”
And so, I made a mental note to write about these trees who shine on through the winter, hanging onto some of their leaves until their spring buds give them a final push and they fall to the ground.
I highlighted them a bit in my post “The Stillness is the Medicine: The Medicine is Nature.” but I guess that wasn’t enough for them. They wanted their own post. :)
In the end, they agreed to share.
I’d never met the Beech tree until I moved to New Hampshire in November of 2020. I remember driving along the road, wondering who those trees were lighting up the forest.
I am fortunate to live on the edge of a deciduous and evergreen forest, in the foothills of the White Mountains National Forest.
I live in Tree Heaven.
A USDA Northern Forest research study led by Dave Nowak of Syracuse University did indeed determine New Hampshire’s tree cover is 89 percent - higher overall than Maine’s tree cover estimate of 83 percent. Yet Maine still has more overall forest land. Maine is 89 percent forested compared to New Hampshire, which remains 84.9 percent forestland.
Either way, it's not a bad place for a tree lover to land.
Days turned into weeks, weeks into months, and I kept promising the Beech trees I hadn’t forgotten about them. I swear I saw them rolling their eyes at me. “Yeah, right.”
Then, one sunny day, while I was sitting deep in the woods in one of my favorite spots, I looked up and saw the sun beaming down onto a Hemlock tree.
I started noticing that every time I was out walking late in the morning, I would see the sun lighting up the Hemlocks. Like it was choosing the Hemlock to shine.
Just this morning, it happened again.
Soon, I started hearing the Hemlocks say, “Write about us!” But, I still hadn’t written about my Beech friends.
And then, as I was making my way home, I noticed something. Wherever I saw a Beech, there was inevitably a Hemlock right next door.
These two almost look like one.
Both trees feel feminine to me, and it’s pretty easy to anthropomorphize them, especially in the winter months when they’re heavy with snow.
The Hemlocks always look like snow people, drooping every so slightly and dressed in their winter coats.
I didn’t know anything about Hemlocks either, before moving to New Hampshire.
FYI, I’m talking about the Hemlock tree here, not the infamous poisonous Hemlock plant. Huge difference. The Hemlock tree has many healing properties, and I love to combine her needles with White Pine for a delicious tea. Or as a body oil.
Hemlock - Grace
Hemlock trees, by their very nature, are mature, graceful beings. Their drooping boughs and fine, soft needles define them as elegant, wise elders that teach us to embrace change gracefully.
The hemlock received its name because the smell of its crushed foliage was similar to the unrelated and poisonous hemlock plant in the carrot family. There are eight to ten species of hemlock Tsuga, native to North America and eastern Asia. All of them are completely non-toxic to humans and animals.
This confusion originated after Socrates, a Greek philosopher, died from ingesting a tea made from the poisonous hemlock plant in 399 BCE. Over 2400 years have passed since Socrates’ death, yet the graceful hemlock tree is still questioned. When the spirit of the hemlock tree appears in our life we are being asked to gracefully allow negativity to flow like water off our back.
Message: This is a time of change and movement. By approaching change with grace, we allow life to unfold before us without fear or anxiety. This may indicate that moving or travel is necessary to help gain a new perspective on a current situation. This is also a time to focus on long-term planning and visioning as you go with the flow in the present.
“Tree Spirit Wisdom” by Laural V. Wauters
And, what did Laural write about Hemlock’s neighbor, the Beech?
Beech heralds a time of stepping into our true power as a person of peace and integrity. We are being asked to speak our truth and to use our power wisely.
The word beech is synonymous with “book” and “letter” in the Old English, Germanic and Slavic languages.
Beech forests are mystical and magical places with columns of silvery smooth bark topped by expansive canopies. The light that shines through is tinted green by its leaves. It’s thought that Cathedrals were inspired by the powerful sense of peace and awe that a beech forest provides. — Laural Virtues Wauters
What beautiful messages for me and for you.
Approaching change with grace.
Stepping into our true power as a person of peace and integrity.
This is a massive Hemlock that sits on the shore of Gone-Away Stream with her delicate friend, the Beech.
Everywhere I look, they’re together.
Tree buddies.
As snow starts to melt here and areas of the ground reappear, so does the carpet of Beech leaves.
Some of them are still wee ones.
Some of them have only one leaf hanging on.
They come in such nuances of color.
Butterscotch, milk chocolate, white gold, caramel, cinnamon.
They compliment perfectly the beauty of the evergreens surrounding them. Especially their neighbor, the Hemlock.
My friend Amanda says, “They’re like Dragon scales - golden and delicate.”
Speaking of my friend Amanda, I am bursting with joy that she has joined our Substack family with her newsletter, “Whispers on the Wind.”
Amanda is a true naturalist who has been studying the natural world all of her life. She sees the beauty and wild magic that surrounds her and lays it down in exquisite words and images for us to savor.
Here’s her first post. I hope you’ll check it out and welcome Amanda to Substack.
May the spirits of Beech and Hemlock be happy with my share about them.
I know there are lots of magical, Nature-loving readers of The Quaking Poplar 🌳. So, I thought I would end this tale with a poem by perhaps my favorite poet, Mary Oliver.
@spirit_rock via Instagram
Much Love,
Barbara
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Ahhhhhh. Lovely and sweet, as always. I love your trees! They are different from mine, but I love ALL trees, and I suspect you do, too. Pray for the one in my front yard, that was chopped so horribly a couple of months ago, so that my landlord wouldn't have to trim it again for "a couple of years." It's like a tree that was stricken with cancer and given radiation therapy... It's being dosed with radiation, too, of course, like everything/everyone else. I cried when I saw what was done. All the wee birdies left. I will now howl for the tree... wooooooooooooooooooooo oooooooo woooooooooooooooo ooooooooooooo WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.
Now, again thank you, Dear One! xo xo
PS My totem animal is the Owl, totem plant, Mistletoe. ^_^ I know you're December, too, aren't you close to my date, or ON it? I'm the 18th. Tell me, I'll give you more info... (I have a couple of books about the Native American Medicine Wheel... really interesting! But anyway, there's also the Grizzly Bear as a totem animal, too... and the Hawk. ^_^ )
That photo of the one last beech leaf holding on... it speaks to me in ways I'll have to sit with to understand. Thank you for this walk in the woods, Barbara. xox