Dead or alive is the theme and it comes up again and again as we wander from the churchyard to the Viking graves over dead tree stumps and through the whirling living forest.
He who made it sells it, he who buys it doesn’t use it he who uses it doesn’t know he uses it. What is it? A coffin. A dead person in a dead tree.
They meet me Marianne North, beside an ancient oak in the graveyard. I am a botanist and artist, a contemporary of Darwin and i am here to collect all the species of tree to be found in the area. From the name of the place it was a holy grove of trees long before the church came.
I tell them I’ve met a woman here who owns almost nothing. A nun who has a tiny sack, her simple dress and scarf and who has walked here from Italy. She meets us, tells us about her hero, Francis of Assisi, and her quest to find the huge living beings he spoke about who live in the forest. I agree to help if she and the kids can help me track down all the species of tree, and on the spur of the moment, devise a competition to find the most kinds of seeds.
But there is also something I confess to the kids. It’s a little strange, I couldn’t tell everyone, but this morning the oak tree spoke to me. I asked it if it was lonely, whether it had children. What contact it has with them and many other secrets it told me. We walk, they’re eager to find and learn. We go through many tests endurances and stories together.
I’ve been preparing for this project most of the summer. Charlotte (who I work with) really loved it from day one. But at the start of the project I felt dead. I could see it was all happening but not feel it, know the meaning. Was I Marianne North? But then, on the third day it came to life. I came to life. Phew! So this project has really been about death and life for me.
Feedback from the kids, spontaneous:
“Lets pretend we’re ill and dress up as 6C so we can do it again tomorrow.”
“I want to do the whole walk again. Now.”
“I’ve always liked the forest but now I see its full of different trees.”
“The tree didn’t talk to me but it sang an old-fashioned song.”
“The tree said: Look after nature.”
“The tree said: Don’t cut me down.”
“Shoes are so 2012.”
“Now my feet can feel mother Nature.”
Two 11 year old boys (on different days) ran spontaneously over to a tree and hugged it.
looks like a great experience!!
Pretty nice post. I just stumbled upon your blog and wished to say that I’ve really enjoyed browsing your blog posts.
In any case I will be subscribing to your rss feed and
I hope you write again soon!
For the reason that the admin of this site is working, no uncertainty very rapidly it will be well-known, due to
its feature contents.
Hello there! I know this is kind of off topic but I was wondering which blog platform are you using for this
website? I’m getting tired of WordPress because I’ve had problems with hackers and I’m
looking at options for another platform. I would be
awesome if you could point me in the direction of a good platform.
Greate post. Keep writing such kind of info on your page.
Im really impressed by your blog.
Hey there, You’ve performed an excellent job. I will definitely digg it
and in my view suggest to my friends. I’m confident they will be benefited from this site.
Greate article. Keep posting such kind of info
on your page. Im really impressed by your blog.
Hey there, You’ve done an incredible job. I’ll certainly digg
it and for my part suggest to my friends. I’m confident they will be benefited from this site.
Aw, this was a very nice post. Taking a few minutes and actual effort to generate a superb article… but what can I say… I put things off a lot and don’t seem to get nearly
anything done.
Magnificent goods from you, man. I have understand your stuff previous to
and you’re just too great. I actually like what
you have acquired here, certainly like what you’re saying and
the way in which you say it. You make it entertaining
and you still take care of to keep it sensible. I can’t wait to
read far more from you. This is actually a terrific website.
This is a topic that is close to my heart… Cheers!
Where are your contact details though?
After looking over a few of the blog articles on your website, I truly like your way
of writing a blog. I bookmarked it to my bookmark website list and
will be checking back in the near future. Please visit my web site too and let me
know what you think.
Hi there! I know this is kind of off-topic however
I had to ask. Does building a well-established blog like yours take a
large amount of work? I’m brand new to running
a blog however I do write in my journal every day.
I’d like to start a blog so I can easily share my own experience and feelings online.
Please let me know if you have any kind of suggestions or tips for
brand new aspiring bloggers. Thankyou!
If you want to get much from this paragraph then you have to apply such techniques to your won webpage.
This excellent website definitely has all the info I
needed about this subject and didn’t know who to ask.
I absolutely love your blog and find many of your post’s to be exactly what I’m looking for.
Does one offer guest writers to write content
available for you? I wouldn’t mind composing a post or elaborating on most of the
subjects you write concerning here. Again, awesome blog!
I know this if off topic but I’m looking into starting my
own weblog and was wondering what all is needed to get set up?
I’m assuming having a blog like yours would cost a pretty penny?
I’m not very internet smart so I’m not 100% certain. Any tips or
advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank you
Magnificent beat ! I wish to apprentice while you amend your website,
how can i subscribe for a blog site? The account aided me a acceptable deal.
I had been a little bit acquainted of this
your broadcast provided bright clear concept
I always spent my half an hour to read this website’s posts all the time along with a mug of coffee.
It is appropriate time to make some plans for
the future and it’s time to be happy. I have read this post and if I could I
desire to suggest you some interesting things or suggestions.
Maybe you could write next articles referring to this
article. I wish to read even more things about it!
Hey there, I think your website might be having browser compatibility issues.
When I look at your blog in Safari, it looks fine but
when opening in Internet Explorer, it has some overlapping.
I just wanted to give you a quick heads up! Other then that, amazing
blog!
Hi, of course this piece of writing is really fastidious and
I have learned lot of things from it on the topic of blogging.
thanks.