In "To Kill a Mockingbird," the recluse Boo Radley used the knothole of a hollow oak tree to leave gifts for his young neighbors. The tree became a vehicle to help him overcome the isolation of his lonely life.
My favorite fictional forest provided a home to Cosimo, the hero of Italo Calvino’s novel, "The Baron in the Trees." His father, the Duke of Ombrosa, ordered him to eat a plate of snails. Cosimo objected. He left the table, climbed an oak tree in the courtyard and never came down.
Over the years, Cosimo created a remarkable life, moving aloft, from oak to elm to olive tree.
Cosimo’s intimate contact with trees provided him with a diverse palette for his senses: the feel of the bark, the strength of the trunks, and the dynamics of the leaves around him.
He never rejected the ground-bound society below him, nor gave up activities you’d think would be impossible in the treetops. Instead, he worked out ways to hunt, fish, fight forest fires, confer with philosophers and scientists, forge friendships, take lovers and care for his faithful dachshund.
It was the very limitations and restrictions of his treetop world that inspired his innovations and rich life.
Think of your own favorite fictional tree, and what it has given you. For me, I see my life reflected in Cosimo’s words, “High above the world, I found true freedom.”
