Go Climb a Tree!

Maybe it’s in your backyard, or on a favorite hike; you come across a tree that looks climbable. It’s got a leaning trunk or low branches that show an opportunity to enter the canopy. You’re tempted to climb but show restraint. “I’d love to climb that tree. I shouldn’t climb it though, should I?”

Yes. You should.

My mother may not agree with this advice. I remember the warning that I got from her when I was young. The neighbor boy was climbing a tree. He grabbed a dead branch. It snapped. He fell and broke his arm. Climbing trees is dangerous. But I couldn’t resist. The cottonwood in the backyard called to me. It had a low branch that I could jump, grab onto and hang from. After several struggles and failures, I figured out how to use that branch to enter the canopy and climb as high as I dared. The more times I climbed it, the higher I traveled. I can still remember the first time I got high enough in that tree to feel it really move with the wind. At first, that was unnerving, then it was exhilarating, after that, it became a peaceful connection. I was feeling the way another living thing was responding to the forces and strains that it’s environment placed on it.

This is not rope and saddle climbing. If you aren’t trained, this is not an invitation to use sharp objects in trees. This is putting your hands on trunk and limbs, feeling the texture of the bark, and having your feet leave the earth, if only a few feet off the ground. Take your time. If that voice in your head tells you that is high enough; stop. If you can find a place to sit in the tree, take a few moments to enjoy your new perspective. Even being a few feet off of the ground in a tree can give you a connection with it. Take the time to enjoy it. Maybe next time you can venture a little higher, or maybe not.

I am still thankful that all those years ago my mother gave me firm warnings “maybe you shouldn’t” without telling me to come down out of the tree. I still have to respectfully disagree with her. Now turn off your computer, set down your phone, and get in that tree!