In this class, we studied how to identify trees. The instructor started out by talking about dichotomous keys, and I was immediately lost.
But then we learned how to use them, kind of like written maps -- along the lines of the process of elimination -- to get to what kind of tree it is. Dichotomous keys are handy and fascinating.
Then we spent most of the half-day session out in the field, using the tools we just learned to identify the trees in the forest around us. It was fun to be trekking/bushwhacking in the woods, using our brains, and having a deeper and closer view of the woods around us.
I know I've taken a lot for granted during my hikes and other times spent in nature. An almost cavalier attitude of "it's just a tree". Now I'll be much more fascinated by and interested in exactly what I'm trekking through, and how it grew there.
The day kind of reminded me of the Ents in "The Lord of the Rings". And the Apple Trees in "Wizard of Oz". Yes, the trees are alive.
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