In gratitude to the Alder Tree

First let me say all trees are special. Trees are like your kids, you love them all equally and you know they are each precious and different in their own way. Up on the moors near me there is a particular Alder tree that I have been drawn to for sometime. It has gotten me through some very tough situations, provided me with a place of sanctuary and given me the energy to go on. Yesterday I thought it's been a while, possibly a couple of months since I've trekked up there to be with the Alder Tree. Despite the deep snow, it was time to go pay a visit.

It's located off the beaten track alongside a small stream and it appears to be growing out from some rocks. Many a time I've sat with my back to the trunk of this Alder Tree finding protection and solace. A sanctuary if you will from the randomness and chaos going on in the world busying itself below in the valley. Yet in all the whirl of existence there is always a welcome and a sense of peace to be found by the Alder Tree. The stream babbles away, the occasional sheep mooches by above on the sides of the ravine and I often watch the birds swooshing their dance in the sky before me.

Typically where you find one Alder tree not far away there will be others. My Alder Tree has two smaller Alders watching over from just above. In front as you walk back toward civilization there is a small glade of young silver birch saplings looking down on the stream's mini flood plain. In the summer this is a secluded place to take a book and while away a sunny afternoon. Yesterday it was knee deep in powdery snow. There were places where Becky my Labrador nearly disappeared into the depths of the drifts. We scrambled along the banks of the stream until we reached the Alder Tree. It was too cold to stay to long, but I was there long enough to realise this is possibly the first time in ages that I've been up there and felt happy. And in that moment my gratitude for what this Alder Tree has given to me was overwhelming.

On arriving home I read up on the Alder tree in my tree ogham book by Glennie Kindred, and this is what she had to say; "the Alder , like the rowan, has protective qualities, but it is more the protection a spiritual warrior might need in going boldly forth into the unknown. The Alder energy will help you take up challenges, move into new situations and face things which you have previously avoided. It is a balanced energy associated with fire on the one hand, which will bring a masculine direct approach and yet its element is water, feminine and receptive ... The Alder could be a catalyst for changes and challenges in your life ... The Alder tree will help you to balance your fire and water qualities. To know when to move forwards, with strength and courage, challenging everything which doesn't ring true, and when to find inner stillness, and receptivity to divine inspiration which will guide your actions ... they will provide a firm foundation for your life as a spiritual warrior." (p.16-17).

I've always felt blessed to know when needed I can go be with this Alder Tree, now I feel enormously grateful for everything this tree has done and continues to offer.