#395: The Book of Trees

Using walks as an opportunity to learn

There is no single reason to walk. We walk purposefully — about the house or to the shops. We walk to pass the time — taking a detour so as not to be too early. We walk to process our thoughts — pacing around the room on an important phone call.

And on a leisurely walk one weekend, I decided I wanted to walk to learn. Instead of moving too quickly, or looking without seeing, I wanted to pay more attention to my surroundings, to see what I could learn about nature.

My usual method of appreciating what I see is to pull out my phone and take a photo. Though I have dabbled in the practice of mindful photography, taking out a phone, a piece of technology, still seems to disconnect me from my surroundings. It doesn’t really feel like true appreciation.

So instead I decided to learn about the nature around me, allowing facts to slow me down and make me look at different aspects of leaves, roots, branches.

Cue my little book: I-Spy Trees.

It is a tiny thing — almost more of a pamphlet with a little stapled edge. It’s a vibrant green and though its images are black and white, beautiful blocks of colour bring joy to the pages.

I remember newer editions of the popular I-Spy book series from the long car journeys of my childhood. I chose this edition about trees because it isn’t just about seeing a truck or a yellow car, it has genuinely informative text about each tree. Basic, perhaps, but accurate. And with this information I “spotted” my first tree: an ash.

I was strangely nervous formally identifying the tree as an ash. What if I was wrong? I didn’t have a background in dendrology, but I had read the description, and looked at the diagrams, and it all seemed to fit…

I suppose that is part of the fun of walking and learning. You gather the clues (the leaf shapes, other foliage nearby, colour) and you make a decision based on the evidence. And then you have to trust your decision. It’s more exciting that way.

So now I keep this book and a pencil in my bag for every little walk I go on, ticking off the trees I find as I go, and trying to remember the ones I have already spotted.

And the one thing I’ve learnt, as I scramble for my little book every time I leave the house? There are trees everywhere!

Eleanor is a writer using her skills in overthinking to write regular blog posts about everyday objects. To read more, check out her blog Object, a collaboration with fellow Medium blogger Katie.