Cities which are more walkable have populations which are healthier. That makes sense. The more you walk, the healthier you will be. Studies also show that walking in nature every day not only improves your physical health but also your mental health. New York City is walkable partly due to being a narrow island. It is also by deliberate design. City planners from a century and a half ago knew the value of parks and incorporated them into the grid of the city. In doing so they set the standard for the rest of the country. Their foresight of artfully planting countless trees is their legacy enjoyed by future generations.Yes, it was truly an exercise in delayed gratification but current New Yorkers certainly enjoy the shade their ancestors created.
Just a quick subway ride away from Manhattan is the Brooklyn Botanical Garden, a 52-acre tree sanctuary. If you love trees, you should love this botanical garden.
In the spring the cherry tree esplanade will knock your socks off with a gazillion pink blossoms. Or wait until fall to view the Ginkgo Allee. The Ginkgo trees shed their butter-yellow leaves almost in unison in a flurry that will leave you breathless. Amongst their spectacular trees is the more common American Beech tree. Though it is a slow growing tree, it can last 400 years and beyond. A mature Beech tree can reach 70-feet high with a broad canopy offering great shade for one's descendents. Fall foliage is a golden bronze color and the tree also produces edible beechnuts.
Supposedly when Daniel Boone killed a bear in Tennessee in 1760, he carved "D. Boone Cilled A Bar In The Year 1760." in the smooth bark of a 200 year old Beech tree. That tree remained alive until 1916. Despite the spelling errors, Boone's inscription remained intact for 156 years. The American Beech tree is somewhat unique in that the bark remains smooth as it ages. Scars in bark or carved inscriptions remain for decades or even centuries. The act of carving inscriptions on tree bark goes back thousands of years. There is a term for it: arborglyphs.
The botanical park strongly discourages people from carving things on their trees, but they are proud of their historical arborglyphs. Many of the decades-old inscriptions contain hearts with the initials of then young lovers. Their love may have been fleeting, but their inscriptions persist. So maybe walking amongst trees is not only beneficial for both physical and mental health. It may also produce amorous feelings. The number of couples holding hands walking the paths of the garden is evidence of that.
The following is a poem I had to memorize in junior high. It is one of the few poems that remained stuck in my head.
Trees
By Joyce Kilmer
I think that I shall never see
A poem lovely as a tree.
A tree whose hungry mouth is prest
Against the earth’s sweet flowing breast;
A tree that looks at God all day,
And lifts her leafy arms to pray;
A tree that may in Summer wear
A nest of robins in her hair;
Upon whose bosom snow has lain;
Who intimately lives with rain.
Poems are made by fools like me,
But only God can make a tree.
Take a walk with Birkenstock.
Photo credits: Amber Harden
