DAY SIX – OUTDOORS

Gary GruberUncategorizedDAY SIX – OUTDOORS
December 6 , 2022 /

DAY SIX – OUTDOORS

Find a comfortable place to sit where you can see a tree. It can be a small or large tree and depending on the season and the type of tree. Notice its shape, its various parts from trunk to limbs to branches to leaves if there are any. See the different sizes of each part and how they fulfill their purpose accordingly.  What you cannot see may be more important than what you can see and there is a larger lesson in that.  You cannot see the roots of the tree nor the nutrients that keep the tree alive except for air and water which come from outside the tree itself.  Think about how the tree takes in CO2.

A mature tree absorbs carbon dioxide at a rate of 48 pounds per year. In one year, an acre of forest can absorb twice the CO2 produced by the average car’s annual mileage.  On average, one tree produces nearly 260 pounds of oxygen each year. Two mature trees can provide enough oxygen for a family of four. When we consider our relationship to trees, as well as to other plants and animals, the details are worth knowing, understanding and appreciating.  When we ignore the details in nature, we are missing important aspects of our critical connection and dependence.

 

Trees in many parts of the world endure all kinds of weather.  At the time of your observation, see what the weather is and whether it is a time of stability or a time of transition, perhaps one season to another.  Is it a dry time or a wet time, a warm time or a cool time.  If it is a deciduous tree, does it have leaves or does it not? Consider where the tree is in its annual growth, expanding and growing or dormant and resting?  Even then, there is activity underground which we cannot see. What we cannot see may be more important than what we can see.  Think on that for awhile.

 

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