How I Became a Tree

Nature / By /
How I Became a Tree

Author: Sumana Roy

Publisher: Yale University Press

ISBN: 9780300260441

Category: Nature

Page: 245

View: 944

An exquisite, lovingly crafted meditation on plants, trees, and our place in the natural world, in the tradition of Robin Wall Kimmerer's Braiding Sweetgrass and Annie Dillard's Pilgrim at Tinker Creek "I was tired of speed. I wanted to live tree time." So writes Sumana Roy at the start of How I Became a Tree, her captivating, adventurous, and self-reflective vision of what it means to be human in the natural world. Drawn to trees' wisdom, their nonviolent way of being, their ability to cope with loneliness and pain, Roy movingly explores the lessons that writers, painters, photographers, scientists, and spiritual figures have gleaned through their engagement with trees--from Rabindranath Tagore to Tomas Tranströmer, Ovid to Octavio Paz, William Shakespeare to Margaret Atwood. Her stunning meditations on forests, plant life, time, self, and the exhaustion of being human evoke the spacious, relaxed rhythms of the trees themselves. Hailed upon its original publication in India as "a love song to plants and trees" and "an ode to all that is unnoticed, ill, neglected, and yet resilient," How I Became a Tree blends literary history, theology, philosophy, botany, and more, and ultimately prompts readers to slow down and to imagine a reenchanted world in which humans live more like trees.

Tree Cultures

Social Science / By /
Tree Cultures

Author: Paul Cloke

Publisher: Routledge

ISBN: 9781000213522

Category: Social Science

Page: 262

View: 316

The relationship between nature and culture has become a popular focus in social science, but there have been few grounded accounts of trees. Providing shelter, fuel, food and tools, trees have played a vital role in human life from the earliest times, but their role in symbolic expression has been largely overlooked. For example, trees are often used to express nationalistic feelings. Germans drew heavily on tree and forest imagery in nation-building, and the idea of 'hearts of oak' has been central to concepts of English identity. Classic scenes of ghoulish trees coming to life and forests closing in on unsuspecting passers-by commonly feature in the media. In other instances, trees are used to represent paradisical landscapes and symbolize the ideologies of conservation and concern for nature. Offering new theoretical ideas, this book looks at trees as agents that co-constitute places and cultures in relationship with human agency. What happens when trees connect with human labour, technology, retail and consumption systems? What are the ethical dimensions of these connections? The authors discuss how trees can affect and even define notions of place, and the ways that particular places are recognized culturally. Working trees, companion trees, wild trees and collected or conserved trees are considered in relation to the dynamic politics of conservation and development that affect the values given to trees in the contemporary world. Building on the growing field of landscape study, this book offers rich insights into the symbolic and practical roles of trees. It will be vital reading for anyone interested in the anthropology of landscape, forestry, conservation and development, and for those concerned with the social science of nature.

Little One, the Christmas Tree

Juvenile Fiction / By /
Little One, the Christmas Tree

Author: Alexandra Marshall

Publisher: Christian Faith Publishing, Inc.

ISBN: 9781098028107

Category: Juvenile Fiction

Page: 48

View: 706

This is a story about a man who becomes a widower and must raise his two children alone. Luke and the children have become reclusive. After their mother's death, Ben and Sarah have no desire to celebrate Christmas. A Christmas tree lot, owned by a kind, elderly man, is visited by the people in the village each Christmas. There are shops and cafes offering cider, cocoa, and coffee adjacent to the tree lot. The Christmas Tree Man notices that Luke and his children have not come to buy a tree. He sends a gift to the family. One year passes, and the second year, as Christmastime arrives, he notes that they did not buy a tree and decides to visit the family. A third Christmas approaches, the children seem happier and tell Luke that they want a Christmas tree this year. Soon thereafter, they go to the Christmas tree lot and pick out a tree. It is a very unusual tree. As they go inside the shop to pay for it, a beautiful lady offers them some hot cocoa. It is Mary, the Christmas Tree Man's daughter. Luke and Mary are instantly attracted to each other, and soon begin a relationship. The children remark that Mary looks like a woman in their dreams. The very special tree that the children have picked out is planted outside, near the small village church. For the first time in three years, Ben and Sarah want to decorate the home for Christmas and send Christmas cards. Luke is very happy. Christmas Eve arrives and after church, Luke and the children are invited to dinner with the Christmas Tree Man and Mary. That evening, Luke and Mary become engaged. Everyone is elated. In the spring, a wedding is held in the small village church. The sun shines through the stained glass windows of the church and fills the ground by the little Christmas tree with hues of color, creating a wondrous scene of beauty. 2

The University of Oklahoma

Biography & Autobiography / By /
The University of Oklahoma

Author: David W. Levy

Publisher: University of Oklahoma Press

ISBN: 9780806181936

Category: Biography & Autobiography

Page: 337

View: 235

This book, the first in a projected three-volume definitive history, traces the University’s progress from territorial days to 1917. David W. Levy examines the people and events surrounding the school’s formation and development, chronicling the determined ambition of pioneers to transform a seemingly barren landscape into a place where a worthy institution of higher education could thrive. The University of Oklahoma was established by the territorial legislature in 1890. With that act, Norman became the educational center of the future state. Levy captures the many factors—academic, political, financial, religious—that shaped the University. Drawing on a great depth of research in primary documents, he depicts the University’s struggles to meet its goals as it confronted political interference, financial uncertainty, and troubles ranging from disastrous fires to populist witch hunts. Yet he also portrays determined teachers and optimistic students who understood the value of a college education. Written in an engaging style and enhanced by an array of historical photographs, this volume is a testimony to the citizens who overcame formidable obstacles to build a school that satisfied their ambitions and embodied their hopes for the future.