Treehugger
They call us treehuggers. They think they’re funny.
It’s easier to mock someone if you can infantilize them. We’re not environmentalists. We’re those daffy treehuggers, eating weeds and talking to squirrels and stuff. Who could take those people seriously?
Easier than talking about the rising sea levels or the massacred rain forests or the diminished biodiversity or the amount of solid waste in the oceans or the lack of potable water in parts of the U.S., that’s for sure. Way easier. Calling us names lets you ignore what we’re warning you about.
But I’ll tell you a secret.
We do hug trees, some of us.
There’s a solidity there, and a connection to the earth, and a feeling of energy pushing up out of the ground to wave at the sky.
And if you hold on, like really hold on for a couple hours, long enough for the tree to notice…
They hug back.
Not with arms or anything, but you can feel the intent of the hug.
It’s awesome.
