03/26/2024
A Mutilated elderberry tree, springing back to life! It’s unfortunate that some trail management in our local parks hire people that indiscriminately cut down everything along the trails. This past year they got overly aggressive in my opinion, and this lovely elder tree got leveled. This is a tree I had been harvesting from for a few years, and had developed a connection to. I was heartbroken the day I discovered that she’d been tragically hacked down. But today, I am a bit heartened now, to see that she is still alive and pushing out new growth! It’ll still be many many years before she grows back to the size she was before. But it is an incredible show of resilience, and has made me learn an even deeper respect for the elder tree (and Mother Nature). Elder trees (or elder bushes), are revered in many cultures as being magical, and ancestral. To me elders feel like gateways to the magical plain. Portals through which other worldly things (good or bad) can pass through. The elder tree is often associate with witches and faeries, but also as the name implies, elders and wisdom. All creatures in nature are sacred, but the elder tree especially is an anchor of sacredness in our world. It would be nice if a little more discernment and care was brought into the way our trails are maintained. But this is still an incredible opportunity for us all to learn from mother nature’s resilience and grace. 🙏🏼🌿❤️
