Tree Hugger

December is approaching, which means I’ll soon succumb to my own special version of Seasonal Affective Disorder.  My wintery blues, however, have less to do with the lack of sunshine and more with the bare branches on all the trees.

So why do I care so much?  Well, if you’ve read either of my short bios, you already know that I love trees.   All plants, actually, and just nature in general.  I used to play “apothecary” when I was younger, picking bunches of grass and leaves and hanging them up to dry.  For a while, I toyed with the idea of becoming an arborist—essentially, I was choosing between becoming a tree doctor or a people doctor.  I talk about plants a LOT…enough so that my boyfriend can now identify ginkgo trees (my favorite) and other plants and knows a lot more about plant ecology than he probably ever wanted.

Plants are great!  How cool is taking sunlight and turning it into food*?  Or being able to regenerate body parts (branches etc.) almost limitlessly?  Denise likes to make fun of me for this—she calls me “Fanny” after Fanny Price in Mansfield Park, who is always rhapsodizing about the “evergreens” on the estate.  And it’s true, you can’t really go anywhere outdoors with me without being expected to look at and admire various trees and flowers.  I also just think all plants are beautiful, from the elegance (and delicious smell) of a tall cedar grove to the tiny but perfectly formed fruiting bodies of mosses.  Hence why they are my favorite things to photograph.  Here are a few of my favorite shots:

Cosmos blossom.

The Pratt Ginkgo, one of the oldest trees on Grounds, in the spring.

Moss, ready to release spores.

So do I consider myself a tree-hugger?  Absolutely.  And I don’t eat organic local granola, drive a Prius, or particularly mind the idea of drilling in Alaska.  I do, however, take navy showers, hope to eventually settle in a rural area (more grass than the city), and fully appreciate how much we depend on the earth.  It’s possible to love the environment and not want to push my conservationist tendencies on others—or, have a huge number of conservationist tendencies at all.  See not having a Prius, above.  Basically, I just really like plants…and if you hang out with me for awhile, you’ll probably learn to like them too, if only to avoid dying of boredom.

*I’ve just greatly simplified the process of photosynthesis, but think of this as the more romantic definition.