I’ve never really talked about Healing Tree and what it represents to me personally. As a child, I was surrounded by orchards. In Elk Rapids, MI, you can’t drive a mile without seeing at least one commercial orchard. Often it is only the road which divides them. Within them are trees; rows upon rows of evenly spaced trees. They form small tunnels with their outstretched branches. And despite my concerns over conventional farming practices, I still love the spaces between rows that appear infinite.
When we chose our current home, we did so not based on the house, but on the beautiful old maple (half of which resides on our land) that was here long before us. That tree was alive while Mozart wrote his first concerto; it was here long before the first airplane flew overhead and it may very well outlive us.
While I underwent treatments for cancer last winter, some old friends were visiting along with some new friends who had become welcome supports during some difficult times. I made the comment that my close friend’s last name, Baum, is German for tree. It seemed fitting, I explained to the group, for my love of trees. Slowly, each person revealed the meaning of their last names. There was an Anishinabe man whose name means Red Tree, an old family friend whose name is French for Green Tree, and a fourth friend whose name includes Baum. Our family name, Courchaine means Heart of Oak. It seemed I was surrounded by trees. And as strange as it sounds, I felt like the universe was trying to tell me something.
When my husband and I sat down not long after my treatments ended and I told him I wasn’t sure about where my life was heading and what I should be doing, he suggested I make an example of my life; that I pursue what it is that makes me happy. I established Healing Tree Farm shortly after not only for the value I hope the project offers our community, but also for the cathartic value of the project for our family.
Healing Tree Farm was established with the hope we might heal land that has been overworked, reestablish trees and plant new trees while replenishing the tired soil. I see so many similarities in what the typical orchard endures each summer (chemically speaking) and what I recently experienced. And so for both of us, this project is about taking the time to heal, to teach, to inspire.
