The Forest

I love the forest, and so naturally the Eco Tip in this month’s edition, caught my attention. A coniferous forest—pine, fir, spruce—complemented with a mountain home, rounds out one of my favorites places to be.

 

There is nothing like being in a forest—the feeling of wilderness and yet tranquility at the same time. If I’m lucky, I get to see a deer, coyote, squirrel or one of many varieties of birds. And I always keep an eye out for bear, moose and mountain lion in areas where I know they reside.

 

The sounds of birds singing and the breeze whispering through the crowns of the trees is incredibly calming. Interestingly, this whispering sound is called psithurism (pronounced sith-err-iz-um), from the Greek word psithuros, which means whispering. And apparently, naturalists also favor the pine when it comes to this soothing sound. The famous naturalist John Muir wrote that pines “are mighty waving golden-rods, ever in tune, singing and writing wind music all their long century lives” (Wonderopolis.org/wonder/what-is-psithurism).

 

It’s not just the pleasing sounds that emanate from the pine forest, it’s the intoxicating scents. In the summer, the heavy warmth of the sap and bark intermingled with the needles produces the most heavenly fragrance—definitely one of my favs. I always think of it as being in the same category as summer horse sweat (this is kind of “inside” information for those of us who love horses and can relate). There’s another forest olfactory phenomenon as well—the winter aroma of pine needles mixed with cold air and snow. Wow, for me, there is no scent that is fresher and cleaner than this one!

 

I love placing my palm on a big, old pine tree, or a rock, and feeling the connection with nature. Or stepping out of the forest into a mountain meadow with a vast view and brisk wind, and wandering through the meadow to the other side and back into the depths of the forest.

 

As the article indicates, forests are vital to life on Earth, and for me, there is no other place like the forested mountain environment to gain strength and become centered and grounded.