I seem to have started something with the tree theme! I'm still not used to
seeing One Tree Hill treeless, and really, really annoyed that I didn't go
up there the day it came down, since they were apparently giving away small
branches to on-lookers - I could have carved a permanent reminder!
Trees have always been really important to me. Growing up I lived next to a
Scenic Reserve, with fully grown native trees 20 feet from the back door.
NZ is sub-tropical, and most of our natives are evergreens - and include
lots of tree ferns and palms. I spent hours and hours exploring the bush as
a child, and had my favourite climbing trees as well. The puriri had big
sprawling branches, and dense foliage you could get lost in - the twin
totaras formed the base for a great tree-hut my brother built between them
with railway sleepers - which is probably still intact after 25 years. I
learnt which plants were edible, played with native crayfish in the creek
(now an endangered species, unfortunately), which ones the native pigeons
lived in (beautiful huge white and jade coloured birds, with a distinctive
call). I remember my favourite spot was about a half-hour trek into the
heart of the bush, where there was a natural clearing due to fallen trees.
The undergrowth hadn't grown much, so you could lie in the sun amongst the
huge trees and look straight up at the sky. Pretty amazing at the age of 7!
My favourite Maori legend tells the story of Rata chopping down a tree for a
canoe. He chose his tree to make a canoe to search for his long-lost
father. He chopped it down but when he returned the next day, the tree was
restored, so he chopped it down again. He did this for several days until
he decided to hide in the trees to discover how the tree was being restored.
He saw the wood-fairies, birds and insects working together to lift the
tree, and replacing every piece of bark and wood. He came out of hiding and
asked them why? They replied that he had neglected to ask permission of
Tane, the God of the Forest. He explained why he needed the tree, and Tane
granted his request. The fairies etc. then helped him fell and carve his
canoe, and eventually he found his father and brought him back to his
family.
Hell
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