|
Into the Forest |
by Jean Hegland |
Before, I was Nell and the forest was trees and flowers and bushes. Now, the forest is toyon, manzanita, wax myrtle, big leafed maple, California buckeye, bay, gooseberry, flowering currant, rhododendron, wild ginger, wood rose, red thistle, and I am just a human, another creature in its midst.Gradually the forest I walk through is becoming my own, not because I own it, but because I'm coming to know it. I see it differently now. I'm beginning to see its variety—in the shape of leaves, the organization of petals, the million shades of green. I'm starting to understand its logic and sense its mystery. Everywhere I walk, I try to notice what's around me—a clump of mint, a cluster of fennel, a thicket of manzanita, or a fiend of amaranth to gather from now or return to later, when the need is there or the season is right. (Pages 175-176)
