Up until this stage of my life, my favourite tree has always had a strong trunk and a large leaf canopy. It’s the tree cows and hikers hit by a sudden burst of rain shelter under. The tree I associated with the word “sanctuary”. It was safety. It was my kind of tree. Lush, vibrant, attractive, strong and safe.

The photo below is of one such tree, a beautiful tōtara from our home in New Zealand. The cows, sheep and my horse used to graze under it. On a hot day it’s where they would be found snoozing in its shade. On a rainy day it’s where they would huddle. My kids climbed it. I adored it.

My favourite tree has changed.

I still love my sanctuary tree, but there’s another taking my attention.

This tree is aged, battle scarred, hollow trunked and yet still living well. It’s the tree that smaller animals hide within and find their homes. It’s a tree that has value as it ages and changes much more so than when it was younger and full trunked and, what some would call thriving.

In Australia, these trees are called hollow-bearing trees. They provide vital homes for endangered wildlife, often produce more nectar and other food than younger trees and are a vital part of our ecosystem.  

This is my new favourite tree.

It speaks to me in my here and now. Struggling, picking myself up from a spiral and knowing that I need to do the hard, deep work for my future to be better and full of life. I’m allowing, nay inviting, the dead wood to be dug out. I’m willing myself to change, to be ok with being scraggly. To be strong enough to have other plants find their home upon my branches without sacrificing my own energy. It’s roots are deep. It’s lived through many changes, storms and now shares its goodness with others.

I have no doubt that I’ll write more about this now that I’m picking up my blog again (hello!), but for now, I wanted to get this thought out. My favourite tree has changed and it’s ok for me to change too.

P.s. A really cool thing about both of these photos is that our golden retriever Teddy is in them. She’s cropped out of the second photo but you can catch a glimpse of her in the first. We so love our Teddy.