tree hugging in a high wind

[robin wood]

I have to start this post by saying I am normally a very rational, scientific not very tree huggy sort of person. However I love outstanding experiences of the natural world and I also enjoy adrenalin rushes and any top entertainment that is free is a bonus, spur of the moment opportune experiences do it for me too, this has it all.......

Today the North of England is catching the tail end of Hurricane Katia with wind speeds up to 80mph and since my workshop is in a funnel shaped valley the wind whistles past the open stable doors battering the 200 year old beech outside. Whenever I see this and hear the huge gusts I have to go out for a bit of tree hugging. Now some folk may say this is irresponsible and dangerous but I suspect it is statistically far safer than driving down the road so it is a calculated risk I am happy to take. I have been doing it for years and have yet to see a tree fall though I have been close to a few. There are few ways of feeling the power of nature to compare to this and yet it is so easily experienced in town or countryside.

I press my cheek against the trunk of the tree and wrap may arms all the way round, the close body contact allows me to feel the movement and that is what is exciting, this is a 2 foot thick piece of wood, a pretty solid inflexible thing, yet in a big wind it comes alive.

Looking up you see the huge sail that the thing is having to hold up in the wind, imagine trying to hold a kite that big. It works best in gusty wind when you almost feel the tree breath a sigh of relief between gusts then brace again against the next battering.

Sometimes I take my shoes off and if you can stand with feet crossing ground and root buttresses you will feel a lot of movement there.

I imagine being on a tall ship in a wind must be a similar experience particularly holding on to the mast and feeling the strain. So next time you feel a strong gusty wind look for a tree, press close, breath deeply and look up. I guarantee it is an unforgettable experience. And after the wind dies down don't forget to pop by your local tree surgeons to see what interesting timber was blown down, "it's an ill wind that blows no good."

 

[TomBartlett]

That's fantastic. I'm in Cambridge at the moment, and while it's not as windy as where you are, there are still some pretty sizeable gusts rushing through. I've just spent the past hour or so in a shed watching the wind batter an aspen, which, with it's tinkly leaves I think is a fantastic tree to observe in a stiff breeze.

 

[robin wood]

Just found out I am in the very best of company enjoying this sort of thing. This is John Muir

"After one has seen pines six feet in diameter bending like grasses before a mountain gale, and ever and anon some giant falling with a crash that shakes the hills, it seems astonishing that any, save the lowest thickset trees, could ever have found a period sufficiently stormless to establish themselves; or, once established, that they should not, sooner or later, have been blown down. But when the storm is over, and we behold the same forests tranquil again, towering fresh and unscathed in erect majesty, and consider what centuries of storms have fallen upon them since they were first planted,--hail, to break the tender seedlings; lightning, to scorch and shatter; snow, winds, and avalanches, to crush and overwhelm,--while the manifest result of all this wild storm-culture is the glorious perfection we behold; then faith in Nature's forestry is established, and we cease to deplore the violence of her most destructive gales, or of any other storm-implement whatsoever."
http://pweb.jps.net/~prichins/w-storm.htm
He goes on to climb a 100 foot Douglas in a big storm
"After cautiously casting about, I made choice of the tallest of a group of Douglas Spruces that were growing close together like a tuft of grass, no one of which seemed likely to fall unless all the rest fell with it. Though comparatively young, they were about 100 feet high, and their lithe, brushy tops were rocking and swirling in wild ecstasy. Being accustomed to climb trees in making botanical studies, I experienced no difficulty in reaching the top of this one, and never before did I enjoy so noble an exhilaration of motion. The slender tops fairly flapped and swished in the passionate torrent, bending and swirling backward and forward, round and round, tracing indescribable combinations of vertical and horizontal curves, while I clung with muscles firm braced, like a bobo-link on a reed."
What a nutter, brilliant.

 

[marcusleftthesite]

Robin I thought I was the only one !!Last year when we had big winds I walked through my local bit of forestry and came across a few fur trees down.One was still upright but it's roots were starting to rise up and was going back and forth so I jumped on Amazing experience.

 

[lannyman8]

Canadian red wood 3/4 the way up, now thats good. tree hugging always has its place....

 

[Shewie]

Mad as a box of frogs Robin, saying that Chris Evans was playing tree sounds the other day and that was quite funky

 

[drewdunnrespect]

now i thought i was mental but hey ho at least i am in there righ place here

 

[Stringmaker]

I get exactly what you mean.

If I am out and about and see a seriously old and interesting tree, I often have to go and touch it, simply to physically connect to such a magnificent living thing. I used to live near Windsor, and in the old royal deer park there is an oak tree which was probably alive when William the Conqueror was in town. A description of old trees used the term "time machines" and that is exactly what they are.

Nicely written post.

P.S. Can you kick Waterstone's up the behind for me? I'm still waiting for your spoon carving book!

 

[robin wood]

I get exactly what you mean.

If I am out and about and see a seriously old and interesting tree, I often have to go and touch it, simply to physically connect to such a magnificent living thing. I used to live near Windsor, and in the old royal deer park there is an oak tree which was probably alive when William the Conqueror was in town. A description of old trees used the term "time machines" and that is exactly what they are.

Nicely written post.

P.S. Can you kick Waterstone's up the behind for me? I'm still waiting for your spoon carving book!

Book has been with publishers a long time but they are a small firm and have had family illness which has delayed things, might be christmas.

Windsor great park has fantastic old pollards, I used to know Ted Green who managed them and was responsible for setting up the ancient tree forum, amazing guy, amazing trees. Not as old as William 1 but getting on none the less.

 

[Stringmaker]

Book has been with publishers a long time but they are a small firm and have had family illness which has delayed things, might be christmas.

Windsor great park has fantastic old pollards, I used to know Ted Green who managed them and was responsible for setting up the ancient tree forum, amazing guy, amazing trees. Not as old as William 1 but getting on none the less.

Ah, right fair enough. Thanks.

Yes, it was Windsor Great Park I meant; a tree-huggers dream!

Pollard spotting is something else I do when out and about; just looking at one connects you immediately to human activity from hundreds of years back.

Trees are good.

 

[forestwalker]

I've done that myself a few times. Defintely worth the time.

 

[BOD]

Do you need the tree??

Or just the wind?

 

[treelore]

what fantastic weather !!! i had a nice hug yesterday............ or it may have been more like hanging on for dear life up a large Ash tree, yee gods the things we do to earn a living lol

but on a more levelo minded note, i love to touch and feel a new tree or an old one i`ve not see for a while.