07/13/2026
“Over the course of my research, I eventually came to understand that there are many reasons why trees inspire such powerful feelings of reverence in us.Trees outlive us, expanding our sense of time; they tower over us, putting our lives in perspective; they provide for us, inspiring a sense of gratitude; and they trouble us, challenging us to embrace what John Fowles calls the “green chaos” of the more-than-human world. But there is something else, which, in our tendency to focus solely on the sunny side of arborescence, we too often overlook:A tree is a way of persisting in a world of wounds.
Each tree begins its life with a number of limitations: It is born rooted to one spot, its flesh is hard, and its insides are mostly dead. All day long the sun moves through the sky, and the rain falls in a diffuse scattering across the soil. If trees were animals, they would simply turn their heads to eat the sunlight and wriggle around their roots to suck up the rainwater wherever they could find it. They would duck lightning bolts, crush pests, and flee from fires. But they cannot. They must stay put. With all of these innate wellnesses, it seems incredible that trees have managed to survive at all. And yet, certain old trees have remained standing for millennia, while empires crest and crash in their shade.”
Robert Moor, In Trees
