healingwords: poetry for the soul

It rained for weeks this Spring during the early lockdown,  gentle, good rain, not the torrential downpours which strip the land and damage the roads. It has resulted in a glorious greening of the campo, grass is growing under trees, shrubs and herbs are verdant and glowing. The heat has suddenly struck and within days we will see the grass wilting and browning but for a little while longer the campo is a verdant and beautiful as I have ever seen it. 

Forest bathing is now prescribed as a treatment for stress and anxiety and general good health. I find walking a path through trees has a meditative quality that brings me peace. Problems are paced out step by step and calm restored. 

Sometimes trees need to be felled, they may be diseased or growing in a way that can cause danger. This tree was on a loose bank by a country track used to access agricultural terraces and subsidence on the banks was loosening the tree roots. However many trees are felled which could be saved, such as the hundreds lost in Cities, a practice which is now being challenged or in hedgerows which need not be removed. Currently hundreds of precious trees are being felled in ancient woodlands for the HS2 rail project, even before this project has fully passed all legal hurdles. Once gone they are lost. 

I was struck the other day by the wonderful palette of greens in the small patch of land by the spring at La Rompuda. In one small area there were pines, holm oak shrubs, abandoned olives, bright cherry, a fig tree and a camp corner where green reeds towered over my head like a cane jungle. 

This morning I was writing a short piece about witnessing a wild fire burn the mountain overlooking the village. It reminded me of driving through fire damaged woods in Cuenca and coming across the village of 'Buenache de la Sierra'. A local artist, Fernando Buenache, used this burnt wood to make incredible sculptures, there are hundreds of them in a field near the village and many more interesting art installations inspired by nature in his bar in the village. He also has an exhibition of stones and art made using stone and wood upstairs in his bar. For Spanish readers you can read more about his work and a recent exhibition in the following link. https://cadenaser.com/emisora/2019/09/06/ser_cuenca/1567769751_103923.html

Today I have been looking through the last year's photographs, images of the countryside around my Spanish village and from my Autumn visit to Ireland, England and Wales. This photograph leapt out at me. It was taken at the Hill of Tara in County Meath in Ireland where the boundaries of the ancient site are guarded by battered hawthorn trees, bent double by the wind. The branches of some of the hawthorn trees were covered with tied rags, rosaries and gifts in prayers to the old Gods and Goddesses. There is a real worry that the increase in such offerings can damage the trees and visitors to sacred sites in Ireland and the UK are asked to respect the trees. This hawthorn had a number of grass stalks tied to the branches, some already fallen to the ground, which seemed a much safer way to respect the tree and the magical air blowing around the Hill of Tara.  I loosely tied a blade of grass with a knot on a low branch and made my own wish, one which now I am thankful and happy to say ...

Whilst I try to stay positive about the strange situation we are living through my calm has been broken by news from England. The HS2 rail works are going ahead despite the lock down and trees are being felled in Warwickshire woods. One of these woods is especially important to me and my family and I am both enraged and heartbroken at the loss of ancient oaks and other trees in these and other woods. The protesters who have been working for months to protect these woods have been dispersed under the emergency rules, some arrested and others still trying to drum up press coverage of the continued work whilst it seems the contractors are taking advantage of the quiet to go ahead with the controversial tree felling. I hope it is not too late for all the trees threatened by this work but for some, it is already too late. 

There are days when I am overcome with an overwhelming wish to walk out my door, out of the village and into the trees. For now, I can only dream and be thankful the majority are keeping me and others safe by staying home.  © 2020 Jacqueline Knight Cotterill.  All rights reserved.  

This winter I planted a number of acorns I picked up in the woods where they littered the ground around the holm oak trees. I followed instructions and put them in a moist bag in the fridge for a few weeks, then with my grandsons help, planted them in the long pot where my mint grows. Months past and we were delighted to see tiny oak plants spouting, with the familiar spiked holly leaves of the holm oak. Some weeks later I decided to transplant them to their own pots and was amazed to find that the inch high oak had a root at least 10 times as long, wrapping around the planter. I worried that moving such a long root would damage the plant but so far they are still alive and hopefully getting used to their new pots.  In the wild where the earth is often baked hard and dry, it takes rain and the passing of an animal to squelch an acorn into the soil. Baby oaks grow very slowly, shadowed out by the faster growing, invasive pine. I hope one day to take my little oak plants and find a g...

I am missing my walks on the hills, thankful I can still see the trees from my roof terrace window. When the sun shines after the recent rains the flowers will burst out and I remember last year how each week the colour of the different flowers would change. One day I counted 8 different yellow, gold flowers, another week the trail would be covered in blue or pink flowers. This is a photograph from this time last year, I can only imagine these beautiful flowers covering the woods.  © 2020 Jacqueline Knight Cotterill.  All rights reserved.  

This is one of my favourite trees,  a short walk from my home,  in the fields outside the village. It is one of the largest holm oaks in the area, they grow very slowly and many stay stunted as shrubs where they are shaded by the faster growing pine. This tree is native to our area, the hills overlooking the village are part of the 'Sierra Carrascal', named after the 'carrasca' , the holm oak tree. I hope I will soon be able to sit again under these branches, looking at blue sky through the leaves, playing with acorns and fallen leaves on the earthen floor.  © 2020 Jacqueline Knight Cotterill.  All rights reserved.  

This is where I love to walk, a path through the trees on the hillside near my village. When restrictions were first placed on our movement I imagined we would still be able to go out for a walk and not being able to is difficult to deal with. I do understand that what seems safe for us in a country village would not be so in the towns and cities and if families living in blocks of flats are not allowed to walk in the park we also have to suffer this restriction. I am fortunate.  I can still see the trees from my roof terrace and bedroom window and can walk there in my mind. Meanwhile, the path will return to nature, left only to the wild animals.  © 2020 Jacqueline Knight Cotterill.  All rights reserved.  

The corona virus is becoming a worrying challenge for many of us. Even the young and strong face the fear of infecting their more vulnerable family and friends while anyone with a health condition, pregnant or over an age where we are now labelled 'elderly' have real fears for our own and others safety. This fear can become overwhelming adding stress and the effect of the bodies chemical response racing through our minds and bodies. I am hoping today to get out into nature, I am lucky the woods are only 5 minutes away and visible from my third floor window. When I can not walk far or need to stay indoors I can always close my eyes and in seconds be there, with the breeze whispering through the branches, birds singing their presence, the sun warming my face as my fears melt and the tightness aching my body starts to ease.  I wish everyone peace and good health. That we find the strength to support each other, stay as safe as possible and face our fears and reality with cal...

The influence of nature on architecture is evident throughout Barcelona with the work of Antoni Gaudi. The inspiration of the natural world on his buildings is expressed in its most beautiful form at the Sagrada Familia where the flooding light through stained glass makes the Cathedral Space feel like being immersed in nature.  This simple bridge in the Parc de Torreblanca en Sant Just was a pleasing surprise. Banked by trees, I imagined the bridge to be made of wood. It was actually a concrete construction which blended perfectly with the trees, both reflecting in the water below.  © 2020 Jacqueline Knight Cotterill.  All rights reserved.  

This walk above St Feliu de LLobregat, looking down to Barcelona, is a oasis of peace and nature for people escaping from the city. The well marked paths take you over the hills, through trees, above the haze of heat and dust. On a warm day we were accompanied by runners, walkers, families and couples strolling hand in hand. This tree reminded me of that closeness.  © 2020 Jacqueline Knight Cotterill.  All rights reserved.  

There is still a nip in the air but signs of spring are everywhere. New green leaf, trees in blossom, birdsong and the warmth of midday sun as the days grow longer.  © 2020 Jacqueline Knight Cotterill.  All rights reserved.  

Green spaces in towns and cities are important environments for people to relax and connect with nature, especially in Spain when the majority of urban properties have no garden.  I love city parks, often quiet havens during the week, bursting with life and children's energy at weekends and after school times. This Sphinx is one of two guarding the entrance to the Torreblanca park in Sant Feliu de Llobregat. They were built over a hundred years ago on the site of an old palace, that suffered during the Spanish civil war and was eventually made into a park in the 1980's. On a sunny Sunday morning it was full of strollers and families, enjoying the trees, wildlife and fresh air.  © 2020 Jacqueline Knight Cotterill.  All rights reserved.  

We watched the sun go down over distant Barcelona from the hills above Sant Feliu where you can take a green path walking through trees to the city. It was calming to be above the cars, motorways, airport, cities full of apartments, thousands of people living their lives. I love this tree with its spiky twig figure standing in the middle, pointing the way.  © 2020 Jacqueline Knight Cotterill.  All rights reserved.  

These seed pods on a tree in a street in St Feliu reminded me of the robot heads on an advert for smash potato when I was a child. Street culture is one of the most enjoyable aspects of Spanish life. The weather allows us to sit outside sharing a coffee or a beer most of the year and 'terrazas' in towns and villages are buzzing with families, school run parents, retired groups of men and women, workers taking their break and visitors enjoying the scene.  © 2020 Jacqueline Knight Cotterill.  All rights reserved.  

It is often said that the sense of smell is a major trigger for memory. When walking in woods in Spain the scent of pine on the air often takes me back to a treasured time I spent in Canada, living in a cabin in the woods near Kootenay Lake. The combination of pine on the breeze and the tranquility of this reservoir at Planes took me back to that special place.  © 2020 Jacqueline Knight Cotterill.  All rights reserved.