I am asking for a forest from my friends

[pegkerr]

Friends list? Could you do me a favor? I would like to enlist your help, if you are willing, in a sort of art project.

Could you please give me a tree?

Here is an excerpt from a previous post I did about a couple of my icons:

and Both of these icons (as well as my default icon) are representations of what I have come to call the Holy Tree. I first became aware of the term by reading Tolkien: he loved trees dearly, and they became central to his mythology, as depicted in The Silmarillion. (In the first manifestation of the world, there was no sunlight or moonlight. Instead, there were the Two Holy Trees, Telperion and Laurelin, from which shone golden and silvery light.)

Telperion and Laurelin, the Trees of Valinor

This idea has mingled in my imagination with my favorite poem of all, Yeat's The Two Trees. (I was introduced to it by Loreena McKennitt, who sang it as a song on her album The Mask and the Mirror.) The poet speaks of a magical tree which grows within the human heart, and contrasts that with a false vision of a blasted, barren tree, which may be seen when demons hold up their bitter glass (a mirror). To me, this poem is about one of the central struggles of my life, and it words it so beautifully. I am too apt to believe the demons who hold up the bitter glass, and show me a vision of a blasted and barren tree. I have been trying to see more clearly the holy tree, which the poet assures me grows within my own heart. The song is also a damn good description of cognitive therapy, one of the best I've ever read. When depression gets its claws into me, my tormentors are, indeed, the "ravens of unresting thought," who shake their ragged wings, alas. The key, the poet says, is to turn the eyes away from the bitter glass, with its false vision of the blasted tree, back to the holy tree within the heart. The first tree icon, highly stylized, I posted because I was considering it as a possible tattoo (it was on the cover of a devotional booklet distributed by my church). I still love the design, but I know it would have to be simplified and I am not sure I will ever do it (the idea of my getting a tattoo does horrify some members of my family). The second tree icon was taken from a watercolor done by Tolkien himself, picturing the Mallorn trees of the Golden Wood (from The Fellowship of the Ring).

Friendslist, I am going on this personal retreat for a number of reasons, one of which is that I need to get a clear image of the Holy Tree, and shake off the image of the blasted tree that has been haunting me.

I would be very grateful, friends list, if you would give me a tree.

Write a poem or a story for me about a tree.

Take a picture of a tree near your home that you know and love and send it to me.

Make me an animated icon of a tree flowering.

Plant a REAL tree (a very small one) in my honor and send me a picture.

Make a (very small) donation to Plant a Tree Today in my honor to help fight global warming. Or any other organization which plants trees. Your local arboretum.

Send me an .mp3 with a song about a tree (something like Claudia Schmidt and Sally Roger's "Tree of Life," which I love. And does anyone have an .mp3 of Michael Johnson singing "Bristlecone Pine"? I know it was on one of the Morning Show Keepers CDs, but we didn't get that one.) It would be even better if you write the song yourself.

Paint a picture of a tree. Do a watercolor or an oil, or just a sketch, or make a pair of tree-shaped earrings out of beads or a tree-shaped pin, and send them to me.

Make an origami tree and send me a picture.

Batik a scarf with a tree on it and send it to me, or just send me a picture.

If you have a sarong with a tree on it, send it to me, or just a picture.

Send me a URL link of a picture of your favorite tree on the internet.

I need thriving trees, blessed trees. Not necessarily beautiful trees, because some of the most wonderful ones in the world are twisty because they are stubborn trees. They can be humble trees. Don't pick the most beautiful trees, but instead the trees that remind you the most of me.

I'm not asking people to spend much money on this--as little as possible, really. You don't have to send an actual object to me. Just a picture will do, and you can simply e-mail that. In some ways, I like the idea of you keeping the tree (actual tree, art object, etc.) that you have made a picture of, because that creates a tie between you and me. So that whenever you see the tree that you have made for me, it will remind you of me. Let me know, if you do send something, whether it is okay with you for me to post a picture of it for others to see. It would be nice if you would let me know what you think is captured in the tree that reminds you of me, or that you hope for me.

I want to compile what I receive--objects or pictures--into some kind of book to look through when the darkest days come.

If you do send something tangible, my address is

Peg Kerr
P.O. Box 2128
Loop Station
Minneapolis, MN 55402

Send emails to pegkerr A T livejournal D O T com. Drop me a comment to let me know if you're sending via email so I can be sure it arrives; I can provide a different email address if there is any problem.

I feel a little diffident asking for this, but hopeful, too. My friends are creative people, and I hope that this request will spark your creativity, making it as fun for you as it would be healing for me.

I leave on my retreat on March 17. It would be lovely to have something before then (maybe I can compile a book of what I receive while on retreat) but if you send something later, that's cool, too. Thank you to those of you who are willing to do this for me.

Edited to add: Also: do you have suggestions for a trees-themed playlist? I imagine I have a number of songs already, and some of you have given me more. Other songs?

Edited to add: Oh, yeah, and not to be picky or anything, but there's one thing I'd definitely nix. If you've been reading this journal awhile, you probably already know this, but please don't send me a copy of Silverstein's The Giving Tree. (If you want to comment on this, please do it on the post linked in the previous sentence.)

Comments

[aeditimi.livejournal.com]

I too love trees. I have to see if I can find the scarf I made with a tree on it-- it was my favorite. If When I find it-- I will!-- I'll send you a picture.

Can you post your email address where you'd like us to send urls and picture files?

hugs.

[pegkerr.livejournal.com]

My user name at livejournal D O T com should work. Drop a comment before you send something and I'll watch for it; if it doesn't arrive, I can provide a different email address. Thanks.

[rosefox]

This tree, in the park near our house, flowers magnificently every spring, well before any of the other trees are even thinking about blooming (though you can see that the forsythia is also getting into the act). I think it's an apple tree. When I took these pictures, I was chasing a butterfly, which was flitting from flower to flower like it had to drink from every single one.







We were out of town for the height of the blossoms last year, but I'm hoping to see them this year.

I have bigger versions of all these photos if you want to print them out; just remove the word "small" from the image URL.

May your spring be full of blossoms and healing and joy.

[pegkerr.livejournal.com]

Oh, that's perfect, that is just exactly what I had in mind. Thank you!

[peacockharpy.livejournal.com]

I wrote this a couple of years ago, but it may speak to you:

Our Lady of Deciduous Grace

She is always nearby,
Lush and green, waiting only
Your rapt attention,
Your heartfelt sorrow,
Your raucous joy.
You know the ways and forms,
The places and the shrines.
Fall on your knees, if you still can,
Count a prayer on each leaf,
A thanks for every root.
It will take you some time,
All summer, perhaps.

This is your penance
For sins you never committed.

When, at summer’s end,
Leaves change color and drop,
Each turn is a votive flame,
Each fall a supplication.
Do not turn away;
Bring ribbons, or flowers,
Candles to hang in the branches.
Complement her stark beauty.
Listen, and you may hear
The sap pulsing slow, at her heart.
In winter, she is most like us.

Spring comes slowly,
With tentative offerings,
Small buds, the barest hint of green.
Savor each one, celebrate it.
Kneel on the awakening earth
And unfurl an answering leaf
In yourself.

[pegkerr.livejournal.com]

Oh, that's beautiful. A perfect gift for this project.

[laurel]

That's lovely.

I purchased elisem's necklace of that same name for my Mom for Christmas a couple years back.

[peacockharpy.livejournal.com]

Really? Elise's necklace was where I got the title, of course. It's a beautiful necklace, but it was the name of it that fired off something in my brain. I'm glad to know where it went!

[lcohen]

i don't want to put more images here and make your page load too slowly, but i love this tree:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/44953066@N00/2051950550/

it is small and pink and full of hope and potential.

[pegkerr.livejournal.com]

Yes, a hopeful tree. That's exactly right. THanks!

[fireriven.livejournal.com]

Have you seen Stephanie Pui-Mun Law's Entwined?

[pegkerr.livejournal.com]

No. Oh, how beautiful. Thank you.

[chelsearoad.livejournal.com]

I sent you two tree songs to your livejournal email.

Never did this before. Let me know if it works.

[pegkerr.livejournal.com]

Thanks! I will check when I get home from work and let you know if there were any problems.

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

This is a picture timprov took last early fall down by the Minnesota River.

[pegkerr.livejournal.com]

Lovely. Trees AND a path, very evocative of this journey of self-discovery I am trying to take.

[kiwiria.livejournal.com]

Here's a link to my favourite tree song. Let me know if it doesn't work.

[pegkerr.livejournal.com]

Excellent choice! I think I am going to start a Tree playlist, and this will definitely go on it.

[kiwiria.livejournal.com]

I'm glad you like it :)

[barondave.livejournal.com]

Washington Zoo, 11/25/06
Don't know if this is exactly what you're looking for, but I love this picture of a tree largely because there's a panda at the top.

A quick survey says I have about an hour of songs about trees/forests/woods (or at least where they feature prominently) that you might like. Not really about the trees themselves, but how we interact with them. If this is of interest, I'll burn a CD and send it to you.

[pegkerr.livejournal.com]

I would be very happy to get a CD like that. Thanks! I think I am going to start a trees playlist.

[wintercreek]

Here's a picture, taken by someone else but posted on the internet, of one of my favorite trees from the campus of my alma mater. It's the tree that everyone loves in undergraduate ways - for climbing and sitting, for environmental statements like living in a tree for a week (hammocks everywhere!), for art installations that hang improbable things from all its branches, and for sitting under on warm afternoons.

[pegkerr.livejournal.com]

Wow, that's beautiful. Thank you!

[huladavid.livejournal.com]

Just off the top of my screen, there's the icon I'm using for this post. It's of a shelter-belt that stands across the field in front of Jeff & Carrie's farm.

Have you ever seen the Kabbalist "Tree of Life"? If not I can see if I can find a graphic for you.

Green leaves to you!

[pegkerr.livejournal.com]

I've heard of the Kabbalist "Tree of Life" but not seen a picture of it. I would be very interested to see it.

[huladavid.livejournal.com]

Just did a quick search via Altavisa, and this was the best I coulf find. Doesn't really explain much about The Tree Of Life, but you can at least get a gander at the thing at http://www.exsoul.com/kabbalah-tree-of-life.php.

[pegkerr.livejournal.com]

Very cool. Thanks!

[huladavid.livejournal.com]

You're welcome.

One of the best sources of info re the Tree of Life & Kaballah was a book on tarot that I checked out of the downtown library. It went into alchemy, and other old beliefs. The connection of the TOL & Tarot has to do with the numerical values on the Major Arcana & that there are the same number of intersections on the TOL as there are Major Arcana.

And I pause to think, What's a good Baptist boy like me doin' talking about all this stuff.??

And the answer is, of course, I ain't all that good.

Grin.

[http://users.livejournal.com/anam_cara_/]

I haven't done this myself, but I've been meaning too:
http://www.soulcollage.com/home/index.php

[pegkerr.livejournal.com]

Wow, wow, this looks fascinating. If I can find the book, it might be a cool thing to do on my retreat.

Peg

[pegkerr.livejournal.com]

Now you've gotten me all excited about Soulcollaging. I bought the book on Amazon tonight, and I'm going to bring some materials with me and maybe get started on my retreat. Thank you so much for the suggestion!

[http://users.livejournal.com/anam_cara_/]

:)

I hope it's helpful! We have workshops here locally occasionally, and I've been meaning to go to one ever since a friend had gone and related how much she enjoyed it.

I just went to a creativity workshop yesterday and it blew me away... and the point the speaker kept driving home was in order to be creative (as an entrepreneur) was to be self-actualized. It was very interesting and inspiring.

[huladavid.livejournal.com]

I suppose it'd have helped if I'd sent the right icon... 'Tho I suppose two little boys could be thought of as trees...

[sraun]

I've got the Keepers Bristlecone Pine - I'll send it to you.

[cakmpls.livejournal.com]

Synchronicity--I just sent Peg a poem about bristlecone pines.

[pegkerr.livejournal.com]

THANK you!

[sraun]

I just checked my e-mail and found a bounce notice from your ISP - they seem to think that the LJ mail-server is producing spam. I've resent it directly.

[cakmpls.livejournal.com]

I have sent you an email.

[pegkerr.livejournal.com]

Thanks! I'll take a look at it when I get home.

[cakmpls.livejournal.com]

Well, it bounced. So I will put the poem here; it's "cowboy poetry," not to everyone's taste, but the comments are so extensive here that the threads are collapsed, so no one has to see it but you. Feel free not to like it!

Somethin' I Learned Today

"Bristlecone pine." Ain't that a fine name?
Oldest livin' things on earth, it's said.
The oldest ones was young when
those pyramids was built.
They live off away from other trees,
in the hard places
where it's cold and dry and windy.
No other trees can grow out beyond
where the bristlecone pine grows.
They've gone as far as trees can.
A bristlecone is all twisty from
those hundreds o' years of wind.
It don't fight the wind,
it just bends with it
and endures.
(Now there's another fine word, "endures.")
It grows on rocks--just imagine that.
If lightning hits it, it heals itself.
If just some little part is alive,
that whole tree keeps on goin'.
And no matter how old it gets,
it can still make new life.
A bristlecone pine, now,
that's a fine thing to be.

[maribou]

I am very spazzy and overwhelmed with stuff I should be doing this week, and I know I'm not going to be the person I want and find/send you this mp3, but I think you would really like Kate Rusby's song _Little Jack Frost_. For this, especially:

Here is a tale of the trees in the wood.
They were never that pleased on the land that they stood,
So they upped and they walked on as far as they could,
Till they felt the sun shine on their branches.

[pegkerr.livejournal.com]

Oh, that would be great. I love her, and I have other songs of hers, but not that one. Thank you!

[pegkerr.livejournal.com]

Er, my ISP is suspecting Livejournal of sending spam, so your message must have bounced; I didn't receive it. However I checked my iTunes list and discovered that I already DO have a copy of Kate Rusby's Little Jack Frost already. So I'll add it to my Holy Tree play list. Thanks!

[hamsterwoman]

I was looking for a photograph of this tree but found a painting instead: indomitable California buckeye.

This is a tree that grows in the UC Berkeley Faculty Glade, alongside Strawberry Creek, right across from the College of Chemistry I attended. It was always my favorite thing/place on campus, and I named it Old Man Willow (even though it's not a willow at all), because of the sheer force of personality it possesses. If this painting is to be believed, the tree has lost more of its main trunk in the years since I've seen it, but is still going strong, still blossoming and greening in spring, a testament to life's resilience.

Here is a photograph of this tree with bonus Nobel Laureates, thus titled "Tree of Wisdom". Another Berkeley-related article reveals the tree was planted in 1882, and is now a Berkeley landmark.

I'm planning to be on campus in several weeks, and will try to take a photo of the tree (hopefully green again) for you.

Curiously, I searched for "tree faculty glade berkeley" and, in leading me to the painting, Google Image led me to the Arcadia website, which is subtitled "Artists Celebrate Trees" and has other lovely images of trees you might enjoy.

[pegkerr.livejournal.com]

There are some lovely trees there. Thank you!

[http://users.livejournal.com/anam_cara_/]

I had to share your comment and links with my son... he's only in 8th grade, but he's already obsessed with applying to Berkeley as his first college choice (it came up while we were registering for his high school classes for next year). Learning about chemistry has just turned a light on inside him. I hope I get to see that tree myself some day!

[hamsterwoman]

he's only in 8th grade, but he's already obsessed with applying to Berkeley as his first college choice (it came up while we were registering for his high school classes for next year). Learning about chemistry has just turned a light on inside him.

Good for him! I came across chemistry much later -- 11th grade, I think -- but it had much the same effect -- suddenly something was both practical and *cool* -- beautiful, really. I actually majored in Chemical Engineering rather than Chemistry -- you still get to take a lot of the chemistry classes, but also lots of classes in application of chemistry to various things. Some people find the engineering side of it dull, but I actually loved it even more -- perhaps something for your son to keep in mind. (I'm sure he hasn't given thought yet to whether he'd prefer industry or academia in his future career, but if industry, with ChemE it's easier to find an interesting job in the field with a less advanced degree; in Chemistry, you pretty much need a PhD to make sure you're not just a lab tech.)

Berkeley has a lovely campus, very green (and great weather, too!), and the College of Chemistry is off in its own little corner, quite cozy. There is even a funny little building, perfectly cylindrical, the center of which is a rotating stage, so that one professor can be writing on the blackboard "backstage" in preparation for a class while another class is taking place in the actual lecture hall. It has excellent programs in ChemE (and Chemistry, too, I think), some of the best in the country, or at least that was the case about 10 years ago.

Berkeley was my first choice college, too, and I've never regretted going there -- it's such a vibrant campus, so many different course offerings, and so much history.

Good luck to your son! Hope he gets into Cal (provided he still wants to, of course, in four years :) and you get to see the buckeye for yourselves!

[corinnethewise.livejournal.com]

I sent you 10 pictures in an email. Let me know if you don't get them.

[pameladean]

http://apps.carleton.edu/campus/photos/scenery/?image_id=362278

This is a photo of some lovely autumnal white birches and a labyrinth, at Carleton.

P.

[lilisonna.livejournal.com]

I was just looking at those.

Peg, I have a lovely children's song about a tree, but it's not recorded anywhere that I can find. Here are the lyrics:

I saw a tree by the riverside
one day as I walked along
Straight as an arrow and pointing to the sky,
growing tall and strong.
"How do you grow so tall and strong?"
I said to the riverside tree.
This is the song that my tree friend sang to me.

I've got roots growing down to the water,
I've got leaves growing up to the sunshine,
and the fruit that I bear is the sign of the life in me.
I am shade from the hot summer sun, and
I am rest for the birds of the heavens.
I'm becoming what the Lord of Trees has meant me to be.
A strong young tree.

I saw a tree in the city streets
where building blocked the sun,
Green and lovely, I could see
it gave joy to everyone.
"How do you grow so tall and strong?"
I said to the downtown tree.
This is the song that my tree friend sang to me.

I've got roots growing down to the water,
I've got leaves growing up to the sunshine,
and the fruit that I bear is the sign of the life in me.
I am shade from the hot summer sun, and
I am rest for the birds of the heavens.
I'm becoming what the Lord of Trees has meant me to be.
A strong young tree.

I saw a tree in the wintertime
when snow lay on the ground
strong and lovely, reaching to the sky,
and winter-winds blew all around.

How do you grow so tall and strong?
I said to the wintertime tree.
This is the song that my tree friend sang to me.

I've got roots growing down to the water,
I've got leaves growing up to the sunshine,
and the fruit that I bear is the sign of the life in me.
I am shade from the hot summer sun, and
I am rest for the birds of the heavens.
I'm becoming what the Lord of Trees has meant me to be.
A strong young tree.

I'd call you up and sing it to you, but you might find that a little odd.

[papersky.livejournal.com]

From my back porch in summer I see trees
In several gardens, dancing in the breeze
Their branches hide the houses, reach on high,
Their leaves a lovely green against blue sky.

One of them is a spruce, not all that tall
You'd hardly notice it against the wall
It's certainly not one to single out
From all the summer trees in glorious rout.

But when the winter comes and leaves are far
The rest are stark, the spruce becomes the star
With branches bowed by snow, the spruce is seen
To hold the hope of trees, the ever green.

Yes, light and joy and hope shall come again
As after winter's snows shall fall warm rain.
The acorn sleeps beneath the winter snow
Awaiting spring and the command to grow.

[pegkerr.livejournal.com]

Oh, Jo, did you write that just for me? *sniff* That's beautiful, and I'm so touched.

Have you ever heard Peter Mayer's song "Green", from his album Midwinter? Same idea:

When winter’s gray is on the sky
Rust upon the leaves that lie
Red on the last few berries clinging
Brown on the branch where the bitter wind’s singing
Even when white obscures the scene
Still, in winter, there is green

Waving defiant pine tree boughs
Cedar needles, stubborn and proud
Hiding inside the seeds of summer
And deep in the root where it sleeps undercover
Patiently waiting there unseen
In the winter, there is green

Death may raise its voice today
O but life will have its say
Speaking in lovers and in children
In poets pens and philosopher’s visions
Life is a planet’s daring dream
Earth’s devotion, spoken in green

So keep it in your winter store
Hang its garland ‘round the door
Grant to your heart its hopeful promise
Fashion a wreath for its blessing upon us
Winter brings browns and grays indeed
But when it comes, remember green

(Sung to the tune of "Shepherds Arise." You can hear a clip here See album info here. This is one of the key songs on my it's-winter-but-I'm-trying-to-stay-cheerful playlist, and it's also on the new Holy Tree playlist I'm creating. I would like to set your poem to music so I could add it, too. Mmm . . . would you object for me to ask Nate Buckland to see if he might be willing to come up with a tune for it? It's so beautiful, it should be sung.

Thanks again,
Love,
Peg

[papersky.livejournal.com]

I'd be honoured if anyone wants to write a tune for it.

And yes, I wrote it just for you. You're worth it.

[joy0823.livejournal.com]

There is a gorgeous old oak tree right near my parents' house that I love. Amazingly, I found a photo of it just by googling around:
http://picasaweb.google.com/olympuscamera/Travilah/photo#5026364112074706162

Try googling "Travilah Oak". Apparently there is a festival to celebrate this tree every year. Who knew?!

[nwl.livejournal.com]

Hm, trees. I collect leaf pins, but not the whole tree. The people next door cut down one of my favorite local trees when they moved in two years ago. My hubby said it was too close to their house.

However, being a quilter, when I think of trees I think of the "Tree of Life" block, which is in the category of Bible blocks. Doing a search, I found this:
http://members.shaw.ca/kigraham/partners/Psalms/psalmtree.html

I'm unfamiliar with the website, but it gives a nice meditation on the tree of life, along with the directions on making the block.

For an idea of how a quilt of Tree of Life blocks looks:
http://www.trocadero.com/stellarubin/items/574711/item574711.html

I've also seen pins of quilt blocks and Tree of Life is a common one.

[wintersweet.livejournal.com]

Ah, I want to send you a picture of the cherry tree near my place, when it blooms...

[wintersweet.livejournal.com]

Here are a couple of photos. Sorry they're dark--I process 'em on a Mac, and now I realize they look dark on a PC.

At Yosemite:
(I know it's a pine, which is a rather different shape, but I like how it stands tall and connects the sky and the earth...)

This tree is just waiting on Spring. (I think it's on temple grounds in either Kyoto or Nara, but I forget.)

[jbru.livejournal.com]

Here's a link to what purports to be the 10 most magnificent tress in the world.

Many of them are, indeed, magnificent but what I found most inspiring was the number of ways in which the trees were remarkable. From the Bristlecone Pines that have survived everything nature has thrown at them for thousands of years to the Quaking Aspen that is composed of about 47,000 stems spread throughout 107 acres of land, the list highlights the many ways in which the trees survive, thrive and flourish.

I have also uploaded a photo that I use as a desktop picture to a gallery. It's a shot from the Olympic National Forest, featuring fabulous old trees hanging with moss and is just the sort of thing that makes my windowless office bearable.

[dichroic.livejournal.com]

I did a search to find whatever I'd written about trees. (Blogs are so handy that way!)Here's an art installation I'd linked to and liked, involved trees and knitting.

I made a pair of earrings recently with lampworked beads with shiny trees, but unfortunately, they, you and I are currently on three different continents and I don't think I ever photographed them. On a more accessible note, I scribbled some verses about light through trees today in the margin of my work notebook - will try to post those here tomorrow.

Oh, and if you want another version of the same Tree of Life song, Bok, Muir, and Trickett recorded it also. You can hear a snip of it and two others here. And if you didn't already know it, "Tree of Life" is a common metaphor for the Torah.

[pegkerr.livejournal.com]

I love the picture of the trees with the red knitted mufflers!

[dichroic.livejournal.com]

Glad you commented and reminded me. This is just a quick during-a-meeting jotting, but to add to your collection of trees, at least tangentially:

A slant of light shoulders aside bare branches.
One end is the sky; the other, a daffodil in the grass
Glowing so bright its radiance streams back to the sun.

Later, the light's direction is more clear
As it brushes through green leaves,
And carves a line straight through green water.

[pegkerr.livejournal.com]

Mmm. Vivid and beautiful. I can just see it.

*Sigh* Daffodils are coming soon. Must hang on until then.