emily’s Reviews > Tree > Status Update

'Tree planters have their own sentimental tendencies. It is tradition—when they reach retirement age—given a period of paid leave—But none of them would take up the offer—When—their trees grows well—they would never think about it in terms of being ‘good for the nation’—By the same token—it wouldn’t be society at large they grieved for if the tree didn’t take—People who work with trees really are a different breed—'

'—but whenever I look at old trees I do think the boundaries are ambiguous. Their shapes—born of strength rather than simplicity: the need to support themselves over the centuries leads to huge warps & deformities, a weave of distended veins and taut muscles, some sections swollen from a surfeit of force—other parts gaunt & hollowed out. Their strength is undeniable—difficult to witness such—accumulation of pain.'

‘—were their different destinies brought on by some small change in the earth later on, or from wind/snow, perhaps? Either way the two trees’ fortunes were determined by a distance measuring scarcely the size of a tatami mat. I couldn’t help but look at their thick, woody roots w/ a sadness that is difficult to express—Just as people bear their own personal histories, so do trees–These baby hinokis—All living things’

‘Someone—asked me what led to my love of plants—woven into the fabric of my life—pomegranate flowers—ginkgo trees—Something in me would respond to—details & the glow I felt afterwards could last as long as two or three days. The flowers of daikon radishes—white when they first bloom—but within a few days the tips of their petals become tinged with lilac or a pale crimson—Wisteria—to maples & then—pines & cedars—'