Tree Magic: Nature’S Antennas Is Dedicated to Global Friends, Advocates and Protectors of Trees Everywhere
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TR E E M A G I C N A T U R E ’ S A N T E N N A S Edited by Jackie Hofer S u n S h i n e P r e s s P u b l i c a t i o n s 1 F Copyright © 2005 by Jackie Hofer All Rights Reserved Published by SunShine Press Publications, Inc. Design & Presentation by Jackie Hofer ISBN: 1-888604-23-9 SunShine Press Publications, Inc. 6 Gardner Court Longmont, CO 80501 www.sunshinepress.com 2 F DEDICATION Tree Magic: Nature’s Antennas is dedicated to global friends, advocates and protectors of trees everywhere. 3 F PRAISE FOR TREE MAGIC Tree Magic opens a door into a fascinating world. For those of us who love trees and can hear their individual songs released by the passing of the winds, this is magic. You should certainly add Tree Magic to your collection. —Dr. Jane Goodall - Founder, The Jane Goodall Institute & UN Messenger of Peace The powerful images and moving words of Tree Magic provide inspiration to members of the conservation community who work daily to protect the health and diversity of our hardwood forests. This gift is a wonderful way to say thank you to champions of conservation or anyone who appreciates the beauty of nature. Jackie Hofer has put together a wonderful collection that every conservationist can return to for rejuvenation and motivation over and over again. —Gwen Griffith - Tennessee Forests Council The best way to get grounded is to go camping in an Ancient Forest. The next best way is to curl up in front of Tree Magic and share the experiences of a won- derful collection of authors, photographers and artists who really love trees. —Denis Hayes - Chairman, Earth Day Network An artistic labor of love by editor and publisher Jackie Hofer, this anthology ushers poetry and prose into a new place in the electronic world. Hofer has creat- ed an easy-to-use online anthology. Directions are easy to follow. Navigation is pure fun! Arranged alphabetically by the title and author of the work, Hofer's anthology presents the work of many award-winning, hard-working poets and writers. The 115 photos and paintings provide an online gallery that enhances the reading experience—and, in some cases, provide a visual poem or meditation in and of themselves. It's a unique and new approach to poetry and short sto- ries that combines the visual and the written word. Some really beautiful photos are included, and even one poem is set to music. —Kathleen Cain - author of Luna: Myth and Mystery, and The Cottonwood Tree: An American Champion, Johnson Books. What a towering gift to the world you have created in Tree Magic. I have been slowly reading through it, savoring it's beauty and wisdom in meditation size bites! Everything from the words themselves, the poignant quotes and stunning illustrations, to the reader friendly ability to skip intelligently from author to work and so on, adds to the glory of the manuscript; a true joy for the eye, heart and mind. —Arlene G. Levine - Author of 39 Ways to Open Your Heart. Her work has appeared in The New York Times, an Off Broadway show, journals & anthologies. Last weekend was special. I had the opportunity to review Tree Magic and loved every moment. Jackie Hofer has created a powerful testimony to trees. Through extraordinary poetry and prose, matched by the beauty of the photographs, Tree Magic pays special tribute to the majesty of trees and the power of imagination. —Bill Meadows - President, The Wilderness Society Tree Magic: Nature's Antennas takes readers and listeners on a voyage of discovery and appreciation of trees and the natural world. Through its innovative for- mat, Tree Magic opens up the world of trees to new audiences, as well as to old friends of SunShine Press Publications. Through evocative poems, stories, pho- tos, artwork, and even music, Tree Magic brings to life the wonder and power of trees to move us, and to make life more meaningful for us all. —John Rosenow - President, National Arbor Day Foundation Jackie Hofer's Tree Magic: Nature's Antennas is a deep and inspiring work of stories, poems, photographs, paintings and more on the beauty of trees which are so necessary for our survival and which create such beauty on our beloved Earth. —George Winston - composer, musician, solo pianist and Winner of 38th Annual Grammy Award. 4 F PREFACE Trees are truly Nature’s antennas. They clean the air and scrub the soil. They inhale noxious car- bon dioxide, exhale life-sustaining oxygen and soak up damaging chemicals. The world owes a great debt to trees. When cut down, they release the carbon dioxide they have absorbed and it goes back into the atmosphere. Tree Magic: Nature’s Antennas is a 450 page collection of 169 poems and stories by authors about the impact of trees in their lives. The authors represent a diverse group, from one author with over 3200 pieces published to a high school senior planning a double-major in writing and music in college. There are 115 photographs and paintings interspersed among the poems and stories Research and experience has shown the healing and therapeutic value of trees in people’s lives. Dr. Roger Ulrich of Texas A&M University noted that drivers who passed green space and urban forests on their commute to work were able to perform complex tasks faster and more accurately than those pass- ing strip malls and concrete barriers. There is evidence that patients in hospitals do better when they have trees and greenery viewable from their rooms. Inner city neighborhoods have less violent crime and drug problems where there are trees and community gardens available to the tenants. One tree enthusiast notes that trees are vital to our spirit. Trees have a calming and energizing effect on us. Developers and new home buyers are realizing the importance of leaving older trees in place or planting larger new trees between homes. Neighbors get along better where there are ample trees nearby. Children still like to climb, play, and fantasize in trees. John Rosenow, President of the National Arbor Day Foundation says, ”All of our lives are enriched by trees. The shelterbelt at the edge of a field helps protect topsoil, retain soil moisture, and improve crop yields. Windbreaks shelter rural homes. And in cities and towns, trees help maintain the quality of watersheds, the areas of land from which water drains to a shared destination such as a river, pond, or stream. Trees slow rain and help it percolate into the soil. Wherever we live, and whatever natural challenges we face, trees aid our comfort and survival. They’re also living proof that each of us can help create a better world by planting and caring for the conservation of trees that have long transformed America.” Trees are our antennas and life-lines to a better, more beautiful world. —Jackie Hofer 5 F Of all the wonders of nature a tree in summer is perhaps the most remarkable; with the possible exception of a moose singing “E m braceable You” in spats. —Woody Allen 6 F VIEWING TIPS Please take a few minutes to read these tips as they will make your viewing of Tree Magic more enjoyable. Tree Magic opens in Abode Reader ® with the Fit in Window view on your computer monitors. Four Navigation symbols appear at the corners of each page are especially helpful in Full Screen view. Click on Top Left symbol to go to Table of Titles. (Click on any title to go to the poem or story.) Click on Top Right symbol to go the Table of Authors. (Click on any author to go to their work.) Click on Bottom Left page number to bring up Go To Page box. (Enter page desired to go to that page.) Click on Bottom Right F in box to go to Full Screen view. (Press the Escape key to return to the Adobe Reader ® screen showing menus, bookmarks, thumbnails, tools, and other features.) Page Navigation Use the Page Up, Page Down or arrow keys to go to the previous or next page. Also, Abode Reader ® has its own navigation and viewing icons on the tool and menu bars. Contents Click on any Title, Author or Picture and read a brief biography about the contributor. Navigation Pane (located on left side of Adobe Reader ® window). Click on Bookmarks Tab and go to the topics listed. Click on Thumbnails/Pages Tab to see reduced images of pages. (Click on the page desired.) Return to the page where you stopped during your previous reading session. Click on the page number (lower left) and type in the number of the last page viewed. Some versions of Adobe Reader ® allow you to set a startup preference to Return to Last Page Viewed. Note: Photographs and paintings appear before and after every other writing. In most cases, they do not bear any direct relationship to the writings before or after the pictures. They do add color, interest and variety to the presentation. 7 F T A B L E O F T I T L E S A Blessing for the Woods Michael S. Glaser 14 A Cutting Event Cherise Wyneken 15 A Pink Cherry Blossom Toby MacLennan 17 A Sunday Walk with Father Todd Davis 18 A Thank You Note to a Friend Michael Kaump 20 A Tree for All Seasons Frank Finale 23 A Tree That Left Its Mother Irene Ferraro 27 A Year of Yellow Susan Landon 28 An Elder Remembers Trees Lynda Skeen 30 Another Thing I Love About Trees Susan Steger Welsh 32 Apple Tree Jessica Tina Chang 34 Árbol Mío Judith Lyn Sutton 35 As a Live Oak Jim Fisher 38 Asleep in the Undercut Tony D’Arpino 39 Bandon-by-the-Sea Henri Bensussen 41 Bearded Tree Christopher Woods 43 Beech Tree in Winter Joan I.