Constant discovery

Keeping a sanctuary of trees is a journey of constant discovery. The keeper comes on board usually after the trees have been on the road, so to speak, for decades or centuries. This ancientness is utterly beguiling to tree lovers. Even if knowledgeable about forestry in general, they usually have no notion of what has transpired in the past in their grove, or in the place where they are seeking to buy a grove. Just to think about how, a century or more ago, Native Americans or immigrant settlers might have stood under the same oak tree you are standing under today inspires awesome daydreams. There is no specific, particular knowledge about how trees got to where they are growing or why they remain. Who and what kinds of people and other creatures walked here, lived here when these trees were just sprouting? Before they sprouted?

Gene Logsdon
A Sanctuary of Trees