ask people to tell
about one activity
not do for money
Based on the phrase, “When you ask people to tell you about the one activity they do not for money, not out of necessity, but to indulge their deepest passions and their wildest curiosities, well, you’re in for an intimate conversation“, quoting Amy Stewart in Fifty Shades of Trees, a review of her book, The Tree Collectors: Tales of Arboreal Obsession (Random House, 2024) in Scientific American, Jul/Aug 2024.
The reviewer writes:
Initially, trees struck Stewart as an odd thing to collect—trees being, for the most part, large and difficult to sell or tuck into a suitcase the way philatelists might their beloved stamps and brandophiles their cigar bands. Intrigued by this community of enthusiasts, she discovered educators, preservationists and visionaries, all hooked on a kind of curation, motivated by reasons as diverse as their projects. They plant trees in public and private spaces both modest and expansive, nurturing their collections to honor beloved dead, attract wildlife, preserve rare species, connect to history, invest in the future, grow food and create beauty. “When you ask people to tell you about the one activity they do not for money, not out of necessity, but to indulge their deepest passions and their wildest curiosities,” Stewart writes, “well, you’re in for an intimate conversation.”
Like all collectors, her subjects express a zeal for aesthetics, preservation, curiosity and delight. But it seems they know something else, too, something echoed by the recent rise in popularity of shinrin-yoku, or forest bathing, the Japanese practice of spending time in the woods: being around trees simply feels good.
I am reminded of the old saying, “Blessed is he who plants trees under whose shade he will never sit.”
Why?
Because being around trees simply feels good.
For that saying about planting shade trees and who said it, the Quote Investigator is worth checking out.
No Haiku For You 