Kay:
Hello, there family. We have got such a fun week for you here on the Kay & Shi Show. In fact, to get ready for the recordings of these episodes we just read poems and did some interpretive dancing.
Shi:
That is not a lie. We also smelled some essential oils and held some crystals. So welcome to Nature Week here on the Kay & Shi Show.
Kay:
We love nature so very much and much of Shila and I’s spiritual selves come to life when we are in nature, engaging with aspects of nature or relating our lives to nature. So, we’re excited to break it down into four parts this week, and first up, we’re going to talk about forests and trees.
Shi:
Well, I love that we’re doing the nature feature week and if you’re a nature freak here in nature week alongside us, we know you will enjoy this just as much as we do. We find so many beautiful lessons expressed in nature. I think it’s one of the best teachers and often overlooked just because it doesn’t use the same human words that we do in language. I feel that so much, perhaps even the most, I think I’m going to say it the most in environments of forest and trees.
Kay:
Well, trees are such an incredible thing. They’re basically like the human plant companion. Nothing happens on human life, on this planet without the power of trees. Now, our bodies are designed to intake oxygen and exhale carbon dioxide and trees are designed to intake carbon dioxide and exhale oxygen. They are our literal natural counterparts.
Shi:
And they’re so beautiful and science is now showing that it’s called forest bathing, that there are actual great effects for you both mentally and physically just by spending time among trees and in forests and being able to you know, be grateful and it’s hard not to be in awe when you’re in that kind of situation. But the kinds of situations that Kay and I love to maybe flex our nature freak muscle a little bit is in regular cityscapes or neighborhoods where you sometimes will feel an energy that the trees aren’t appreciated as much as they should be.
Kay:
Well, sometimes a tree in a city gets walked by because it’s implanted in concrete and might not be a part of a beautiful natural forest and so sometimes, they just start blending into the scenery. So, we do our best when we are in cities and towns to recognize the trees for what they are, those beautiful human counterparts, their gorgeous shape providing life-giving selves, and to recognize them in their spiritual capacity.
Shi:
This love of trees and the forest, in particular, is something that we also share, I also share with my husband, Chad. He’s a formerly certified arborist, worked with the horticulture department at the University of Nevada for two years. He sits on the board for our local arboretum. Needless to say, he loves plants. He loves nature. He loves trees a lot and we both love hiking. It’s been one of the beautiful habits that’s emerged for us in the second half of our marriage so far and we have a lot of fun hikes that we just nothing’s better than getting out together. But one tree, in particular, stands out to us, always on our hikes and that is the Quaking Aspen. If you’ve ever been in a grove of Quaking Aspen, you know they’re beautiful. They’ve got white trunks; they’ve got light little leaves that just quake in the slightest little breeze. So, they look like they’re glittering and shimmering.
Kay:
They sparkle.
Shi:
Exactly and especially when the sunlight’s coming through…
Kay:
Oh my gosh.
Shi:
…and they grow in groves which means it’s actually one big tree underneath the ground. It’s one big root system that emerges little sprouts that are all unique and different. So, I think they really feel that connection like the human family. We’re all one on the inside, that same human life force energy, but we sprout individually as unique humans and I love seeing that expressed and reflected in the nature of Quaking Aspen trees.
Kay:
Now, Shi calls Quaking Aspen trees the little sprouts that come up, but they can actually reach a height of 20 feet.
Shi:
Yeah. Humongous.
Kay:
They can be very, very large but they’re absolutely beautiful and they are seasonal, which means that in the fall time you can expect to see them being a beautiful yellow color and they’re just gorgeous. You know, one of my favorite types of trees that we’ve gotten a lot of exposure to is the Redwood tree. We’ve gotten to experience the great Redwood forest in Northern California and Southern Oregon as our parents live in Southern Oregon, so we get to travel there in the summertime, but much like the grove of Aspens, Redwood trees grow in families, which means that of the same tree the DNA family gets spread out and that’s how you get a grove of Redwoods. It’s not all connected by the same tree underneath, but they are part of a similar family, and just love the way that trees are able to carry on their DNA in a very similar way to humans.
Shi:
I feel like you can feel that kinship when you’re among a family of Redwoods and they have their different expressions as you come among different groups and things. Got to take a shout-out for our Evergreen trees. We just love Pine trees and Evergreen trees. They’re just so beautiful. We live in an Alpine mountain, and these are just the green giant warriors that cover the mountains that give the best smells and of course bring a little feeling of Christmas 12 months a year.
Kay:
Now we can’t justify cutting down a Christmas tree every single year, so we have actually moved over into fake trees in our families for the Christmas holidays. But we love to engage in those tree traditions to bring them inside, to honor the trees that give that evergreen beauty to the world and places like forests. We hope that you’ve enjoyed today’s tree talk and we hope that maybe you will come onto our social media or into our Facebook group and let us know what’s your favorite type of tree and why do you love it?
Shi:
All right. We’ll see you on the next installment here in nature freak week.
