Letters
Knit to This: Judi Dench’s Passion for Trees
Dear Ann,
I know you are a friend of trees. I’m a friendly acquaintance of trees; we have a great time when we meet, but I don’t know much about them, or even many of their names.
With the exception of my Significant Trees:
1. My next-door grandparents’ ginkgo tree, which was visited by the local arbor society as a rarity in Omaha, Nebraska. It hung over their circa 1900 bungalow, providing a ladder to the roof for our cat Sammy, who could never quite get back down on his own. I ironed its leaves between waxed paper sheets and took them to school for show and tell, impressing no one but myself. The ginkgo is still there, now large enough to be a prize specimen in a botanical garden. I wonder if the current occupants appreciate it when the pale yellow leaves rain down, all of them falling on the same day. I wish I could travel back in time and ask my grandma, how did we get the ginkgo in the first place? There must be a story, but I took it for granted that we had Omaha’s only ginkgo—of course we did.
2. The same grandparents’ two tall elms, which perished in the 1960s to Dutch Elm disease. The city came and took them down, and the grief-stricken atmosphere between our two houses on that day is a sharp memory. My grandfather worked on removing the stumps for years, hacking at them with axes to little effect, later burning them with slow fires. I think of them when I cross Central Park, where there is a fenced-off grove of majestic Dutch Elm survivors.
3. The tall black pines of Southampton, New York, which are succumbing rapidly to a plague of beetles. Looking out the window at just the right moment, I’ve seen 50-footers swoosh to the ground, twice now. On our constant woods strolls this past year, we walk through fields of jagged fallen pines, and have to scramble over trunks that bar the path. When we first moved here twenty years ago, we took care not to disturb the tall pines with our various projects. They fell, or are falling, anyway, and we’ve reached the stage of having to have them taken down to spare the other trees in the woods, not to mention houses and hikers. It’s brighter back here than it’s ever been, but hopefully the scrub oaks will take advantage of the sunshine and enlarge their canopies.
4. A small grove of elegant beech trees in the corner of my front yard, “volunteers” according to the Tree Guy, who addresses them reverently and doesn’t seem to care how close they are to the house. I like that they don’t let go of their leaves until the new buds come in the spring. I appreciate their cautious attitude toward life; their branches may get raggedy, but they are never bare.
The famed actor Judi Dench is a lover of trees, and I happened on her hour-long BBC program from 2017 called My Passion for Trees. I spent a happy lunch hour knitting through it, and coming close to tears in a couple of spots. There’s Shakespeare recited from memory, the names of departed friends and husbands carved on tree plaques, arbor glyphs, and Henry VIII’s battleship Mary Rose, whose curved timbers were formed from the natural curves and crotches of tree branches. There’s a whole story about mushrooms—your favorite fun guys, Ann!—and the miraculous role they play for the trees.
Dame Judi adds a lot, letting the audience share in her astonishment and humor. As she walks through the forest, taking the arms of various scientific guides, I can’t think of anyone aging as beautifully as she, showing the way.
Love,
Kay
Oh thank you for this. I too love trees!! When walking in the woods here in NH, or anywhere really, I love to see the HUGE trees and speculate how old they might be and think of what they have seen and what birds and animals have lived in them. This will be fun to watch!!
Thank you for the wonderful, informative, magical film. I learned so much and also enjoyed it.
In the small world department, ginkgo is a word in today’s NYT Spelling Bee. I’ll recommend also the book, “The Hidden Life of Trees”-magical! Happy knitting.
Yes, I just finished reading “The Hidden Life of Trees”. What a wonderful book!
My favorite tree of all: Shel Silverstein’s The Giving Tree.
Thank you for sharing and a beautiful knitting hour this morning. I loved the photography and learned so much about the importance of our trees!
I’m an arborist. I love the way you write about your special trees her Kay <3
i, too, had a favourite elm tree. It was around the corner from my home and was so large and beautiful. It had survived the Dutch Elm tree sweep of the late 60’s (I remember losing the ones near our family farm). A local university was using the survivor elm, and the few others that had also proven resistant, for breeding. I hope to see more grow in my lifetime. When I would walk by it coming home from work each day, I would give it a pat of recognition, just to say hello – to my mild embarrassment, the homeowner had noticed. I was saddened to see my beloved elm come down a couple of years ago – they said it was dying, but it was a loss to me and to the neighbourhood. When all the sawed-off trunk and limbs were piled in the driveway, I asked the homeowner if I could have some pieces. I ended up with a couple of good thick limb chunks, that I placed in my garden, so I can look at them and remember the glorious shape of an elm tree (limbs thrown exuberantly to the sky, in sort of “ta da” kind of way).
Thanks for this lovely essay and I will watch the video. I would also recommend “The Hidden LIfe of Trees” as a good read.
This is really lovely. Who doesn’t love trees? We grew up with a beautiful red maple in our front yard and learned to appreciate trees early. Can’t wait for a quiet moment to view this video.
Thank you for sharing this beautiful program! I too have loved trees my whole life ! Judy has provided the perfect voice to that love!
I saw somewhere this week a photo of a very old French tree that is destined to form replacement rafters (?) in Notre Dame de Paris. Every tree has a story!
I came for the knitting fun and all things yarney. The most wonderful bonus is the curation of all the “other.” Thanks for adding the delightful discoveries.
My property butts up on a Nature Conservancy property – one of the first they ever bought, and preserved because it is one of the last stands of old growth virgin forest on the east coast. Four hundred year old hemlocks, a maple tree so big my arm span (yes, I’m a tree hugger) only goes a quarter of the way around. One of my favorites is a huge old oak whose trunk is almost completely hollow, but still every year it thrives. I spend so much time in those woods in every season, it’s hard to imagine life without the trees – especially this year.
Doesn’t knitting and loving trees go hand-in-hand? My suggestion is to watch Dame Judith and then read…or better audio…..The Overstory by Richard Powers. I have had to swipe more than a few tears to see where my needles are taking me. The audio is beautiful and what a compelling story of trees and our relationship with them.
Also loved The Overstory. Trees are amazing creatures!
For 25 years I had a wonderful view of a magnificent pine tree from my dining room—which also serves as a sitting room (and, now Zoom room). I loved watching sunsets through that tree, and snow storms. I had a better view of that tree than the homeowners did. When a big branch fell off in November I was afraid its days were numbered. Sure enough, they took it down in December–a job that took 2 days. I wish I had gone over and taken a souvenir. They should have left more than a stump, the base of the trunk is 3-4 feet wide and it could have served as a table. And now you are reminding me of the sycamore in the back yard of my childhood home. I would climb up with a book in hand to read up in the top branches. Will certainly watch Dame Judi–thanks!
This was a wonderful way to start the day. I am surrounded by large trees. They are sentries and friends. Many have names.
Lovely video. Thank you
I lost my beautiful Maple tree in the ice storm this year. It was only 9yo. Its fall colors were amazing. Our neighborhood lost 10 trees!
Thank you very much for posting this, and all the other Saturday listenings you have posted.
I looked out my window at a huge, magnificent pine, but it became beset by beetles. PG&E said it was too close to wires, so they took it down last week, which took six days. Now there is a gargantuan stump, and it feels as though there has been a death in the neighborhood. I had no idea I was so attached to that beautiful tree.
Wonderful …loved learning about her trees.. thank you
Thank you so much for this.
Thanks for sharing this link – lovely program.
Finally had time to watch this. Enjoyed it very much. Thank you for sharing.
Just finished watching this beautiful film while finishing a fair isle hat on a rainy Sunday. What could be more perfect. What a treat this film was. I always look forward to your “Knit to This” suggesttions. Your never fail to offer the best. Thank you.
I’ve always been a fan of Judi Dench as an actor. Now I love her as a person. Thank you for sharing this. I too am a tree hugger/lover.
After just writing a comment about this beautiful film, I remembered a beautiful book “Meetings With Remarkable Trees sent to me after 9//11/2001. My husband’s firm was in Tower Two and we lost a great deal of friends and family that day. The book was sent to me by someone I did not know and although I tried I could never trace her name to thank her. The gift giver wrote a beautiful note about the book stating she hoped it would offer comfort and that it contained “stories that are whimsical and magical and a reminder of the wonder of life” I was so touched by this unknown person’s gift at that time and still am. I hadn’t revisited it since that difficult time but I just reopened it again and I will reread it as time has passed. It contains beautiful stories and photography. The author isThomas Pakenham.
Thank you again, not only for Judi Dench’s film, but for reminding me of the gift of a stranger .
What a treat you gave all of us who subscribe!!! It was divine…so much so I shared it with friends to view on a quiet afternoon.
Beautiful program so intriguing thank you for sharing it with us.