Trees Need Not Walk the Earth

Trees Need Not Walk the Earth, and, yet we as humans do, and partake of the beauty of the tree.

Take your pants for a walk day July 27, what a fantastic idea! A great way to get outside, and get some exercise after being cooped up with COVID protocols for so long.

Enjoy the afforestation areas, and have a great time.

Trees Need Not Walk the Earth

David Rosenthal

Trees need not walk the earth  
For beauty or for bread;  
Beauty will come to them  
Where they stand.  
Here among the children of the sap
Is no pride of ancestry:  
A birch may wear no less the morning  
Than an oak.  
Here are no heirlooms  
Save those of loveliness, 
In which each tree  
Is kingly in its heritage of grace.  
Here is but beauty’s wisdom  
In which all trees are wise.  
Trees need not walk the earth 
For beauty or for bread;  
Beauty will come to them  
In the rainbow—  
The sunlight—  
And the lilac-haunted rain;
And bread will come to them  
As beauty came:  
In the rainbow—  
In the sunlight—  
In the rain.

Take your pants for a walk day! Richard St Barbe Baker Afforestation Area, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada

Take your pants for a walk day! Richard St Barbe Baker Afforestation Area, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada

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Please help protect / enhance your afforestation areas, please contact the Friends of the Saskatoon Afforestation Areas Inc. (e-mail / e-transfers )Support the afforestation areas with your donation or membership ($20.00/year). Please donate by paypal using the e-mail friendsafforestation AT gmail.com, or by using e-transfers Please and thank you! Your donation and membership is greatly appreciated. Donate your vehicle to Friends of the Saskatoon Afforestation Areas Inc. to raise funds for afforestation areas. Click here to find out more. Members e-mail your contact information to be kept up to date! Canada Helps

United Nations Decade on Ecosystem Restoration

Use the UN Decade’s Visual Identity
Make it your own
Spread the word about the UN Decade
Let’s Bring Back Forests
Let’s Green Our Cities

““Be like a tree in pursuit of your cause. Stand firm, grip hard, thrust upward. Bend to the winds of heaven..”
Richard St. Barbe Baker

The environment is where we all meet; where we all have a mutual interest; it is the one thing all of us share.
Lady Bird Johnson

Internal Peace

Walking is natural, and is a basic pattern recognized on your smart phones. What are your amount of steps in a day? What do steps and internal peace have to do with each other?

Child running through the forest having a great time connecting with nature

Photo by Sebastian Voortman on Pexels.com

Photo by Brynna Spencer on Pexels.com

Take your pants for a walk day! Richard St Barbe Baker Afforestation Area, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada

Walking after a meal helps your gut health. It was Hippocrates who proclaimed that all disease begins in your gut. What better way to help your gut health than by indulging in a constitutional after mealtime.

Not only that, but walking in nature will appease mental wellness, heart health and overall well being.

Fear in a life and death situation such as an avalanche, triggers an instantaneous survival mechanism- and the body’s metabolism engages the sympathetic nervous system in preparation for a fight-or-flight response. However, when the fear is from an unknown, uncertain fear such as the risks presented by COVID-19, well, then still the fight-or-flight instinct kicks in and produces an anxious state. But there is nothing to fight, there is no attack from a wild bear. There is no avalanche to run away from.

Because of the onslaught of COVID-19 protocols, lifestyle changes and information changing minute to minute you are facing uncertainty, and your body is tense. How can you bring on relaxed breathing and heart rate? By acknowledging your body’s response to the novel Coronavirus, and allowing the body to take flight.

Walking is a very easy way to take flight from worry, anxiety, and fear. Take a break and look after both your physical and mental health with a walk in nature. Your body has released adrenaline, and changed the metabolism for the ‘fight or flight’ response. Now allow the fight or flight response to expend itself in a healthy direction.

A walk in the woods, forest bathing or Shinrin-Yoku has amazing health benefits. Enjoy, and immerse yourself in the experience of being in nature.

Breathing relaxes. The heart rate calms down. The body readjusts and one by one the parasympathetic nervous systems return the body back into balance. It is a good feeling.

Further, the body functions are influenced by fresh air, by being out in the sun, and by the earth’s magnetic field. The fresh forest air is what we breathe when out in nature at the afforestation areas.

“Man can live about forty days without food, about three days without water, about eight minutes without air…but only for one second without hope.” ― Hal Lindsey

Pick up your water bottle, come out to the afforestation areas, and take flight by indulging in active transportation. Breathe in. Breathe out. Indulge in the oxygen rich forest air. Please do maintain social distancing protocols, and at the same time heal your physical and mental body. Recharge your immune system. Drink water. Breathe in. Breathe out. Give your sympathetic nervous system a break today. Sleep better. Take care of yourself, and feel the benefits of relaxing and activating the parasympathetic nervous system.

What can you smile at today, perhaps it is the Black-capped chickadee tweeting its territory call. Breathe in. Breathe out. Perhaps it is the robin looking for its lunch, walking on the ground in front of your feet as it searches and feels for the worms below the earth. It is a sign that spring is here, and the seasons change in a timely and ordered fashion. Is the buffalo bean blooming yet? This bright yellow flower signalled the time when the great herds of bison would begin their migration to their summer grasslands.

Richard St. Barbe Baker himself reminds us to live according to the prayer of Gandhi;
” We thank Thee God! for thy Trees,
Thou comest very near to us through thy Trees.
From them we have beauty, wisdom, love,
The air we breathe, the water we drink,
the food we eat and the strength.
Help us, Oh God!
to give our best to life
and leave the world
a little more beautiful and worthy
for having lived in it.
Prosper thou our planting
and establish thy kingdom of love
and understanding on the Earth.

For directions as to how to drive to “George Genereux” Urban Regional Park

For directions on how to drive to Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area

Canada Helps

For more information:

Blairmore Sector Plan Report; planning for the Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area, George Genereux Urban Regional Park and West Swale and areas around them inside of Saskatoon city limits

P4G Saskatoon North Partnership for Growth The P4G consists of the Cities of Saskatoon, Warman, and Martensville, the Town of Osler and the Rural Municipality of Corman Park; planning for areas around the afforestation area and West Swale outside of Saskatoon city limits

Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area is located in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada north of Cedar Villa Road, within city limits, in the furthest south west area of the city. 52° 06′ 106° 45′
Addresses:
Part SE 23-36-6 – Afforestation Area – 241 Township Road 362-A
Part SE 23-36-6 – SW Off-Leash Recreation Area (Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area ) – 355 Township Road 362-A
S ½ 22-36-6 Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area (West of SW OLRA) – 467 Township Road 362-A
NE 21-36-6 “George Genereux” Afforestation Area – 133 Range Road 3063
Wikimapia Map: type in Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area
Google Maps South West Off Leash area location pin at parking lot
Web page: https://stbarbebaker.wordpress.com
Where is the Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area? with map
Where is the George Genereux Urban Regional Park (Afforestation Area)? with map

Pinterest richardstbarbeb

Facebook Group Page: Users of the George Genereux Urban Regional Park

Facebook: StBarbeBaker

Facebook group page : Users of the St Barbe Baker Afforestation Area

Facebook: South West OLRA

Twitter: StBarbeBaker

Please help protect / enhance your afforestation areas, please contact the Friends of the Saskatoon Afforestation Areas Inc. (e-mail)

1./ Learn.

2./ Experience

3./ Do Something: ^***

Canada Helps

Inner peace begins the moment you choose not to allow another person or event to control your emotions.

— Pema Chodron

“Feelings come and go like clouds in a windy sky. Conscious breathing is my anchor.”
—Thich Nhat Hanh

May is Mental Health Awareness Month
#EveryDayCounts
#MotivationalMonday
#MondayMotivation
#BeAwesome
#BeHappy
#createSomethingBeautiful
#HappyMonday
#MentalHealth
#SelfCare
#SmileLaughDaily
#community
#YouAreNotAlone
#MentalHealthAwarenessMonth
#FutureGenerations
#BeKind

What a little snow will do

Fresh Snow Reveals a Nest in the Bare Branches

Richard St. Barbe Baker would often quote Henry Jackson van Dyke Jr. (November 10, 1852 – April 10, 1933) and here is an excerpt from his poem Salute to the Trees.

To every living thing a voice was given
Distinct and personal. The forest trees
Were not more varied in their shades of green
Than in their tones of speech; and every bird
That nested in their branches had a song
Unknown to other birds and all his own.

Henry Van Dyke

The voice of conscience is so delicate that it is easy to stifle it; but it is also so clear that it is impossible to mistake it.~ Ann Louise Germaine de Staël

Just a bit of a variation on a theme regarding the snow at the afforestation area

For directions as to how to drive to “George Genereux” Urban Regional Park

For directions on how to drive to Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area

For more information:

Blairmore Sector Plan Report; planning for the Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area, George Genereux Urban Regional Park and West Swale and areas around them inside of Saskatoon city limits

Pinterest richardstbarbeb

Facebook Group Page: Users of the George Genereux Urban Regional Park

Facebook: StBarbeBaker

Facebook group page : Users of the St Barbe Baker Afforestation Area

Facebook: South West OLRA

Twitter: StBarbeBaker

Please help protect / enhance your afforestation areas, please contact the Friends of the Saskatoon Afforestation Areas Inc. (e-mail / e-transfers )

Support the afforestation areas with your donation or membership ($20.00/year). Please donate by paypal using the e-mail friendsafforestation AT gmail.com, or by using e-transfers Please and thank you! Your donation and membership is greatly appreciated. Members e-mail your contact information to be kept up to date!

Canada Helps

1./ Learn.

2./ Experience

3./ Do Something: ^***

“In the words of Henry van Dyke, America’s greatest tree poet,
‘He that planteth a tree is a servant of God;
He provideth a kindness for many generations
And faces that he hath not seen shall bless him.’ ”

Richard St. Barbe Baker

And he woke to find it was all a dream.

For there in his evergreen dress he stood,

A pointed fir in the midst of the wood!

His branches were sweet with the balsam smell,

His needles were green when the white snow fell.

~Henry Van Dyke

“No one talks more passionately about his rights than he who in the depths of his soul doubts whether he has any. By enlisting passion on his side he wants to stifle his reason and its doubts: thus he will acquire a good conscience and with it success among his fellow men.” ~ Friedrich Nietzsche

A Single Spruce, A Single Glory!

A Snow day literally and figuratively falls from the sky ~ unbidden ~ and seems like a thing of wonder”~Susan Orlean<

Colorado Blue Spruce Picea pungens in Winter copyright Julia Adamson

“A Snow day literally and figuratively falls from the sky ~ unbidden ~ and seems like a thing of wonder“~Susan Orlean

A Single Spruce, A Singular Glory; Prithee now the story…

One from the archives…
Colorado Blue Spruce Picea pungens with foliage mottled and marbled with white blanket of snow. The soft cover a marked contrast to the foliage highlighting, nay caressing the pattern which in due time allow and reveal to our eyes beholden the varied lines, nuances and lacy swirls. For thou art captivating in thy winter charms and this snowy robe has made this fine wonder yours. Hiding leaves so green amid this fair world of ours. It is thus that a wonder such as this doth work inside of me with a canvas rich and beautiful. And is it true that when the winter hibernal months come at last, that it is then that snowflakes become your butterflies? Have you ever entered into that wilderness, have you ever found the spruce decked out in white? Let not God’s rattle rob your sight but on this wintery morn; step out and see the varied shapes amid the wood, a pleasure so fine, that time and space fold away that perchance one may say that the space seems but divine. For ’tis graced with Sun’s warmth and light the heavy laden bough among the green doth shine within the kindly beams. On boughs now gathering winter wool, the snowflakes, so light they worked, and now scarcely should a living soul doth breathe lest the wondrous sculpture shouldst break. Oh have you ever seen a lovely sight as this, bred by the sun on that wondrous winter’s day. Can you walk in the urban wilderness park, and see such sweet music cry? Oh can you hear the snow settle down with laughter in the trees? Such does the wind lay down its the silent spell, so stop and marvel for awhile, drink in Nature’s song~ swallowing the spruce green boundaries. And look around at millions of souls, the spruce turned green to white, and look this day upon their face, and truly do walk apace in joy among the giant spruce in these hibernal months I do so love.

In sleep of helpless infancy
Trees were the arms that cradled me;
On Tree my daily food is spread;
Tree is my chair, and Tree is my bed.
~Theresa Hooley

When snow falls, nature listens ! Antoinette van Kleef.

For directions as to how to drive to “George Genereux” Urban Regional Park

For directions on how to drive to Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area

For more information:

Blairmore Sector Plan Report; planning for the Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area, George Genereux Urban Regional Park and West Swale and areas around them inside of Saskatoon city limits

Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area is located in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada north of Cedar Villa Road, within city limits, in the furthest south west area of the city. 52° 06′ 106° 45′
Addresses:
Part SE 23-36-6 – Afforestation Area – 241 Township Road 362-A
Part SW 23-36-6 – SW Off-Leash Recreation Area (Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area ) – 355 Township Road 362-A
S ½ 22-36-6 Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area (West of SW OLRA) – 467 Township Road 362-A
NE 21-36-6 “George Genereux” Afforestation Area – 133 Range Road 3063
Wikimapia Map: type in Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area
Google Maps South West Off Leash area location pin at parking lot
Web page: https://stbarbebaker.wordpress.com
Where is the Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area? with map
Where is the George Genereux Urban Regional Park (Afforestation Area)? with map

Pinterest richardstbarbeb

Facebook Group Page: Users of the George Genereux Urban Regional Park

Facebook: StBarbeBaker

Facebook group page : Users of the St Barbe Baker Afforestation Area

Facebook: South West OLRA

Twitter: StBarbeBaker

Please help protect / enhance /commemorate your afforestation areas, please contact the Friends of the Saskatoon Afforestation Areas Inc. (e-mail)

QR Code FOR PAYPAL DONATIONS to the Friends of the Saskatoon Afforestation Areas Inc. — Paypal

Payment Options

Membership : $20.00 CAD – yearly
Membership with donation : $50.00 CAD
Membership with donation : $100.00 CAD

1./ Learn.

2./ Experience

3./ Do Something: ^***

You Tube Video Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area

You Tube Video Richard St Barbe Baker presented by Paul Hanley

You Tube Video Richard St Barbe Baker Afforestation Area and West Swale wetlands

You Tube Video Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area – Saskatoon’s best kept secret.

You Tube Video George Genereux Urban Regional Park Hoar Frost

You Tube Video George Genereux Urban Regional Park Saskatoon

You Tube Video George Genereux Urban Regional Park

I believe in oneness of mankind and of all living things and in the interdependence of each and all. I believe that unless we play fair to the Earth, we cannot exist physically on this planet. Unless we play fair to our neighbour, we cannot exist socially or internationally. Unless we play fair to better self, there is no individuality and no leadership. ~Richard St. Barbe Baker.

“Kind people have been expressing superlatives on my work. But I can assure you that anything which I have been able to achieve has been team work. We have a motto in the Men of the Trees. TWAHAMWE. It is an African word meaning ‘pull together’ and I pass this on to all those concerned with conservation in this country. I would like to call you to silence for a moment with the words of Mathew Arnold:

“Calm soul of all things, make it mine,
To feel amidst the City ‘s jar
That there abides a peace of thine
Men did not make and cannot mar. ”
~Richard St. Barbe Baker

One of the earliest [memories] is that of the pine forest which came up close to the house. I often sat in the sun there and in the tree tops I seemed to hear the sound of waves breaking on the sea-shore. Those pines spoke to me of distant lands and gave me my first desire to travel and see the trees of other countries. At times I would imagine that these tall pines were talking to each other as they shook or nodded their heads at the whim of the winds.~Richard St. Barbe Baker

Trees Need Not Walk the Earth

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To every living thing a voice was given Distinct and personal. The forest trees Were not more varied in their shades of green Than in their tones of speech; and every bird That nested in their branches had a song Unknown to other birds and all his own.

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A Single Spruce, A Singular Glory; Prithee now the story…

Share this:

Like this:

To every living thing a voice was given
Distinct and personal. The forest trees
Were not more varied in their shades of green
Than in their tones of speech; and every bird
That nested in their branches had a song
Unknown to other birds and all his own.