Cedar Trees
The edge of our land, especially to the south and west, is home to red cedar trees, from the genus Juniperus. I giggled when I found out that these soft, fragrant swamp dwellers are closely related to the prickly, low-lying juniper shrubs we spent the summer clearing from the Apple Tree Field. I almost got a tee-shirt embossed with “I hate Junipers”, not because I dislike the low, Zen garden shrubs, but when they need to come out, it’s a long and back-breaking process. Because I live closer to the ground than my husband, I became quite familiar with the shrubs—and have the scratches to prove it.
Cedar is part of the very infrastructure of some of the buildings on the land. The old A-Frame house on the property was build entirely of cedar planks cut and shaped on-site. It was not built well—the hips of its roof went all the way to the ground, and small trees have now shoved up through the apron of its shingles. The floor undulates between the cement blocks used as a makeshift foundation. We cannot save her—but the color and light of the old building still points to the heart of those old trees that make up her bones. We’ll recycle what we can, returning some to the forest as deer blinds and art hermitages.
Cedar grows relatively slowly here in the North Country, sometimes as lonely single trees and sometimes in tightly packed groups of four or more. They can live up to 300 years, with an average lifespan of about 150 years. I’ve found stumps on the property that would take a couple of grown men to reach around.
Deer retreat to the safety of the cedar swamps in the winter and during the heat of summer, although they don’t eat them as much as they do in other areas. Some of the locals have speculated that the wide, fleshy “leaves” of the local cedar are too bitter here. I can remember growing up in the state forest and hearing stories of the skeletons of deer found in the deeper swamps, when the snow held them prisoners and the weak could not make it through the season.
Cedar wood is often used in furnishings and wall treatments and contains a chemical that, besides its lovely scent, also contains an antifungal and antibacterial agent and may repel some insects as well. Cedar oil is used in aromatherapy to ease breathing, reduce muscle stresses and calm the mind. It can be mixed with a carrier oil to guard the skin against both fungal and bacterial infections and outbreaks, and is thought to help regulate circulation, helping women cope with unreliable menstrual cycles.
The cedar tree, for me, has always been a mystical companion. Even in the wildest windstorms, the deep swamp areas remain still and silent, a cathedral of dim light and visible arms of roots plunging into the earth. Their branches give way easily, their wide green leaves almost a pleasure to touch, like supple green leather beneath my fingertips. The air itself, particularly in the spring and summer, carries a musky perfume that suits the mostly bare ground. I like nothing better than to come across a nest of cedars, their trunks growing from a central point, like a hand resting palm up, its fingers lifting gently toward the sky. I can step right into that space and hunker, protected and nurtured on all sides. Cedar holds life stubbornly when it stands in water in the early spring or the dry earth in midsummer. It effortlessly teaches stillness, silence, listening—a contemplative’s living symbol of the interior life.