I really like trees

"Stand still. The trees ahead and bushes beside you
Are not lost. Wherever you are is called Here,
And you must treat it as a powerful stranger,
Must ask permission to know it and be known.
The forest breathes. Listen. It answers,
I have made this place around you.
If you leave it, you may come back again, saying Here.
No two trees are the same to Raven.
No two branches are the same to Wren.
If what a tree or a bush does is lost on you,
You are surely lost. Stand still. The forest knows
Where you are. You must let it find you." -David Wagoner

I spent most of last weekend in the wilderness of the Kootenai National Forest. Doing what? Mostly identifying weeds and scat. It was awesome.

In the almost nonstop rain (worst-looking laundry I've ever seen, pre-wash), and plenty of fire (laundry with the smell to match it) there's so many of those epic moments that for some reason, often get lost in the academia and self-centered focus of that normal life thing.

In 24 hours, the serenity of a clear blue mountain lake and seeing a bald eagle fly. Talk about a Rocky Mountain High, Montana.

Then thinking a flower is really cool-looking, seeing it near everywhere, and asking what it is, to find out that not only is it edible, but also rather delicious.

Hundreds of awesome-looking rocks in the creek (crick, in Montanan), and a sweet quartz-infused black one up the trail, near our bear hang (which took two hours to figure out, gotta say).

Looking up scientific names of all those ridiculously cool flowers and alders and weeds and trees, newfound knowledge filling the gaps I knew my brain was saving for something great.

Speaking of which, since when were scientific names interesting to me in the least bit? I don't remember a time when bio really made sense or brought wonder--it was always an AP test to take or the reason I woke up at 5:30. But outside, looking closely and seeing that every leaf means something different, being able to tell a spruce from a fir when one of them bites back--there's wonder in it.

A wonder that shouldn't be dismissed by taking science classes purely for the "Sc" credit on the transcript, only to rush into another humanities course because "they're so much cooler". That's not to say I'm wholeheartedly devoted to science, but I've remembered not to dismiss it. In the words of Emerson, to believe and adore--that which is incredible, though oftentimes ignored for its ubiquity.

And the wonder that comes in the forest, that feeling I've always seemed to have outside, maybe this science thing, this forestry thing, is the opportunity to learn more about it, to stand in awe and wonder at the trees and rocks and wildflowers and RAIN (so much rain. seriously.), letting that newfound wonder rush in like the waterfall above those trees and stand wide-eyed, thirsty for more.

Oh science. You've got me again.