Branching out

One of the few small pleasures of lockdown life has been discovering local points of interest in this corner of Dublin. I moved to the area about 15 years ago and I love living here. Specifically, I love its proximity to the city centre, and how I can be on O’Connell Street in about half an hour. Meanwhile, my flat is also quite close to the sprawling and very beautiful Phoenix Park. Back before my knees took up their ongoing protest against high-impact activities, one of my regular running routes took me along the canal, which is beside my flat, and on to the glorious Phoenix Park with its avenues of chestnut and lime trees.

It was the Government’s decision to impose restrictions limiting my movements to just 2 kilometres of home that made me reappraise my environment… and rediscover the local park during my short walks. It’s much smaller than the Phoenix Park, and feels more cosy. One of the city’s newer facilities, it’s benefited from clever planting which means that I’ll feel like I’ve negotiated two or three different outdoor spaces by the time I’ve returned home.

Meanwhile, thanks to a book I’ve been reading, Tree Wisdom: A Year Of Healing Among The Trees, by Vincent Karche (pub: Hay House), I’ve been approaching my daily walk with new eyes. Karche had an international career as a respected tenor before burnout forced him off the stage and back to his previous life as a forester.

For the Frenchman, reconnecting with the rhythms of nature can be a powerful force for meeting the challenges of the modern world and fostering one’s own creativity.

Karche deftly weaves his own life story and personal experiences into a guide to taking inspiration from the ability of trees to take root, survive and even thrive in the face of sometimes adverse conditions.

Meanwhile, every chapter ends with an exercise that’s designed to quiet the mind and bring the body back into alignment with the world of nature.

I’m somebody whose knowledge of natural history is very shaky - but I still found much to love about this book. Kerche’s enthusiasm for his subject is infectious, and I was surprised to mentally take note of the various characteristics of certain trees on my walks around the local park.

I’m working my way through the exercises and I can readily see why they are useful: trees symbolise growth, strength and security – all traits that I want to manifest in my own life, and qualities in the natural world that make me feel more in touch with my surroundings.

If I take one thing with me from this lockdown life, I hope it’s this ability to appreciate what has been sitting right under my nose all this time. I hope that in a year’s time when I’m (hopefully) getting ready to fly to Greece, or wherever, that I’ll still take the same pleasure from something as simple as taking a brisk walk in the cool evening air and maybe – just maybe – being able to identify a Scots pine in the local park.

Tree Wisdom: A Year Of Healing Among The Trees, by Vincent Karche (pub: Hay House)