I wrote this while sitting on the porch of our Starlight Pines Bed & Breakfast in Flagstaff, Arizona. We were in the midst of some forestland.
Being near the woods makes me feel thoughtful. Thanks to two fine fellows at Mutual Causality and Gossamer Tapestry, being near the woods also makes me think of fires, but that is not my point today.
The Forest is an ancient Archetype symbolizing going into the mind and the soul. Deep in the woods lurk the monsters and witches but also the secret castle with the treasure and the Maiden in need of rescue. There is much to encounter in the Forest, as Mr. Sondheim captured beautifully in his musical ‘Into the Woods”.
I like the forest. I have fantasized all my life about living in the woods. Seeing photos at Scuff Productions, Rodger Dodger, and Designerblog sets off a desire to drop everything and find a cabin in the woods. When I am in the Pacific Northwest rain forests, I feel alive. I like to be in touch with The Woodsman or Green Man or Hermit. Perhaps in the woods I will find a Lumberjack (different fantasy). In the woods I too may romp with Titania and Oberon and other fairy folk.
Western Mankind has been ambivalent about the woods since man wondered into Europe. We long for it; we fear it. The Mythos of Bigfoot captures this intrigue and fear of the Woods.
Nowadays I doubt we can’t appreciate the splendor and fear our ancestors had to encounter endless woods.
It is ironic that I live in the desert. There aren’t any trees let alone woods (I don’t count nasty mesquite trees, which hold no archetypal energy for me).
I miss the woods. 
So when we travel I try to locate some forest and go into the woods.
16 comments
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June 25, 2008 at 5:40 am
e.a.j.
Urspo - can you delete that comment from yesterday - about closets and the number of shoes we all own - with my whole stinkin’ name showing? I can’t seem to do it from over here and it’s giving me the willies. thanks! k.d.
June 25, 2008 at 5:44 am
Scott
I too love the woods. I feel blessed to live in an area with many trees.
June 25, 2008 at 7:38 am
Lemuel
If I had my druthers, I’d live deep in the woods.
June 25, 2008 at 11:20 am
Maggie
I grew up with the woods all around me. Our land and most of our neighbours was cleared but just behind us was forest. It was fun when we were children playing hide and seek and climbing the trees.
When I went to high school closer to the city, they used to say I was from “the sticks”. (It wasn’t meant as a compliment).
June 25, 2008 at 1:04 pm
Diederick
One of the things I love about scouting camps. Being inside the woods.
You really get to know the trees during a week on camp. The ones standing along the road. The ones you pissed against. The ones you almost crashed into while walking back to your tent after a night of drinking. The ones you spit out on while brushing your teeth. The ones you sat against waiting, or reading, or playing guitar.
I love the forest, and I want to live as close to it as possible when I am older. Preferably in it. And I don’t care about Lime disease or other threats from the forest. Every good thing has its downsides.
June 25, 2008 at 2:05 pm
Merri
So will you ever move somewhere that has a good forest?
SAD to think of you in the desert amongst the hated mesquite trees..
June 25, 2008 at 3:27 pm
Mark H
THANKS two million for saying living here may inspire. I am not sure I COULD live in the desert despite all the whining we do in the winter here not about ice or snow, but about gray and damp, yet it IS that very feature that creates the deep dark woods we love so much. Those winters give way to fabulous summers and today’s an example. We spent the first two hours IN the OLD Forest with 4 dogs, listening to birds, chatting. Later we were at the mighty Columbia on a dog swim with friends form San Francisco. I think you and Someone should consider a visit to the Northwest! You are always welcome here for a bit of rest, talk, a spot of wine, and some fine discourse on forestry and all the gnomes around us. Sorry you are missing your homeland…….I know there’s lots of fabulous forest in Michigan too.
June 25, 2008 at 4:22 pm
BentonQuest
I miss living near woods. I grew up near a wooded area and I seem to need large areas of trees.
June 25, 2008 at 4:47 pm
"Joe"
I live in a small city in the mountains, in an area surrounded by national forest. My house looks into the woods that back up to a national park. I work in a building encircled by 100 to 150 year old trees: oak, white pine, maple, ginko, catalpa, willow oak, hemlock. I live in the most beautiful place on earth.
The druid blood in me can’t go without trees.
June 25, 2008 at 4:56 pm
cedrorum
Just remember, fire is gooooood.
June 26, 2008 at 4:02 am
DougT
Spo, it’s too bad that the part of the desert that you live in is fairly unexciting. A bit further south around Tucson, the desert is amazing. I remember the first time I visited in the late 1980s. It was spring, and the desert was in flower (which makes it a bit unfair as a benchmark). I was completely fascinated by the strange trees- not just mesquite, but desert hackberry and ocotillo. Even the cholla and saguaro cacti function as the ecological equivalents of trees and shrubs. I remember thinking of it as the enchanted forest because all the plants looked like they should be growing on the bottom of the ocean.
Oh, and what Cedrorum said.
June 26, 2008 at 6:59 am
javabear
I like the quiet of the forest. Even the noises are quiet. It is a place of peace for me. I need more forest!
June 26, 2008 at 8:32 am
Pink
You know what they say…big foot…big….
SHOES!
Geez what were YOU thinking?
xx
pinks
June 26, 2008 at 8:38 am
Steven
I love the forest as well. But I am prepared with mosquito spray before heading in. Unfortunately, not many surround me, so I travel to the state park. It’s another place where silence makes me do a lot of thinking.
June 28, 2008 at 11:01 am
Greg
“Oh, if life were only moments, even now and then a bad one. But if life were only moments, then you’d never know you had one.”
Hope you enjoyed your moment in the woods!!
July 3, 2008 at 9:57 am
Doug
That’s one thing I dislike about where we live now: very little forest. It’s all being clear-cut, and what’s preserved is remote. I absolutely adored being in the forests around Vancouver and Seattle last month.