This week, I’m wrapping up my Summer of Tree Books reading
with The Hidden Life of Trees: What They Feel, How They Communicate:
Discoveries from a Secret World by Peter Wohlleben. As you might imagine, this
book is full of interesting facts about the way trees live. Such as:
Surrounding trees will send nourishment to a sick or dying
tree, because “every tree is valuable to the community and worth keeping around
for as long as possible.”
Trees have defense mechanisms such as scent compounds that
can be dispersed in the air, or “toxic tannins in their bark and leaves” to deter
insects and animals.
Like people, some trees are more social than others.
Reproduction practices between species of trees have been
well-studied, but there is still a lot we don’t know and/or can’t understand.
(This also seems very similar to humans.)
Sometimes, trees growing in a group make efforts so that
they all reach pretty much the same potential, which seems to go against our “survival
of the fittest” understandings of evolution.
There is more, much more, in this fascinating book and
although it is perhaps a bit of a drier read than Meetings with Remarkable
Trees, it is still well worth your time. As I mentioned in my last post, one of
the most rewarding aspects of my summer reading project was the way all of
these books began to work together, one informing and enriching the next. This experience has certainly made me look at trees, and the natural world in general, in a new, more appreciative light. And when
I started teaching my class on writing for children and teens this week, I
read The Giving Tree to them, and that took on a new resonance as well. That selfless tree!
So what of next summer’s reading project? Is it too early to
start thinking about it? Well, for better or worse, a well-meaning friend has
pointed me in the direction of the French Revolution and for a variety of
reasons, that will most likely be my focus in summer, 2020. Recommendations
welcome!
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