Why the long faces?

Way back, a long time ago, when I was a young boy I would play for hours in the woods behind the house where I grew up. There was something peaceful and zen about being all alone in this vast canopy of leaves. Totally surrounded by nature. Just sitting there in the middle of tall trees, creeping vines and fallen branches. I would sit for hours, just listening to the winds flow through the leaves, watching the flying squirrels glide from tree to tree and waiting for the spring peeps to start singing from the nearby bog.

As I sat there, pretending I was in a magical remote forest away from the rest of humanity, I would stare at the tree bark and identify, what I believed to be, small faces peeking their way through the tree bark. Some people like to lie on their backs in the grass, look at the clouds and see what familiar shapes they can find; I liked to stare at a tree and see how many faces I could find.

These faces always had a regal feel to them. They were stretched out due to the grain of the bark and they appeared to be very serious. Just watching the forest around them. Almost as if they were sentinels, scanning the forests so that they could report back to some tree king or queen about what they’ve seen.

This was probably my first real link I had with nature. The moment when my affinity for gardening and outside plants began. It was magical to me. It made me feel like all the plants and trees were connected, and that I could be a part of that.

I still see the faces in the trees when I’m outside. They always bring a smile to my face.