Re{imagining} Trees

By Jenn Shelby

 Somewhere on Caledonia Mountain, a lovely maple sat looking out over the forest and the family that lived in a little house nestled into the trees. 

The maple gracefully braved the blustery Maritime winters and the storms that whipped up the Bay of Fundy and wore away the seaside mountain where its forest family grew.

 

  

Jenn Shelby and her daughter Evening.

   It was a strong, heroic sort of tree, but a wee fungus in the grass grew jealous of its lofty heights.  So jealous that it decided to infect the maple, and girdle it about the base until it could no longer feed itself from the earth where it grew.

  Slowly, its leaves began to fall, 'til one spring came when it grew no leaves at all, and the family that lived there knew they had to cut the maple down to keep their little one from danger.  Still, the family had looked to the tree with much respect and healthy wonder, so they paid homage to the maple as best they could.

  They made this mortal maple a testament to human wonder and the power that nature gives to the imagination.  They made the maple beloved from far and wide by children and youthful hearts with clasped hands and squeals of glee as they rediscovered their long lost stories.   For nothing in nature or imagination is ever truly lost.



If you look closely enough, a tree can always offer direction to somewhere new. (photo by Jenn Shelby)

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Meet the Writer:
You can learn more about Jenn Shelby’s amazing adventures seeing the magic in her surroundings, and re-imagining trees and life on Caledonia Mountain on her blog: Re*Imagine Everything. 

She also has written a children's novel - The Incredibly Truthful Diary of Nature Girl – which you can purchase at the 5702 King St. gift shop in Riverside-Albert.

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