Looking at Trees

Often when I walk I zone out and don’t really pay attention to the world around me, but more recently I’ve been trying to pay attention to the details of the plants I walk by, especially the trees. Looking at trees seems to be good for my brain, but it's easy to forget to think about what I’m walking by and just follow the route I’ve followed so many times.

The two most common street trees in my neighborhood are live oak and camphor. The live oaks are evergreen and have small dark green leaves with spines at the end of the lobes. Their bark is generally gray-ish and ridged. Live oaks are native here and their acorns were an important source of food for the Ohlone prior to European settlement . The camphor trees are deciduous, but most of them still have green leaves right now – the leaves generally stay on until spring. Their bark is flaky and it’s possible to break off small pieces. These are not native, but they do well here and are the kind of tree Totoro lives in so I’m fond of them.

I like the way both of these tree species have spreading branches. Standing under a tree looking up makes me feel sheltered. It reminds me of how much life there is in the world.