This Entanglement of Trees

“Trees are Earth’s endless effort to speak to the listening heaven.”

Rabindranath Tagore

I’m obsessed with the view from the upper deck of the cabin we’re renting in the Nantahala National Forest in the mountains of North Carolina. An interplay of bare branches etches intricate scenes across the sky that change throughout each day.

It’s winter. The woodland picture is largely monochromatic, but still, there’s subtle beauty in misty fog, dappled light, and tree fungus after a rainstorm.

Sometimes there are unexpected bursts of color. For instance, the setting sun often casts a glow on uppermost branches, turning the hour golden. Later, it provides a fiery backdrop.

On this February morning, an overnight snow blankets the landscape. Trees sparkle in the rising sunlight. Their branches are, as Bob Dylan might say, “tangled up in blue.” 

Other days, I admire the graceful curves and random twists of branches and twigs, as well as the trees’ gnarls, knots, galls, and other interesting imperfections.

I want to know the names of my towering neighbors, and I promise myself to order a tree identification guide. Even though there are no leaves to inspect, the bark, the lines, and the shapes of each of the trees before me are distinctive and could surely provide valuable clues for a forest expert wannabe.

But what’s the hurry? For now, it’s enough to simply see. And to give thanks.

“In a universe made out of energy, everything is entangled; everything is one.”

Bruce Lipton