The Ceiba, in Uayamon, Campeche, Mexico, photo Graeme Clark
To celebrate the New Year we need a little optimism, and the beauty of nature helps greatly. Since our future depends on forests and trees, I have selected a few magnificent ones which I had never seen before. Here is a Mexican Ceiba, the sacred tree of the Maya, symbol of the universe, which is also known as the silk-cotton tree or Yax Che. It can grow up to 70 meters in height. Its fruit is harvested for kapok fiber to stuff mattresses and pillows. This tree can also be found in Angkor Wat. This particular one has a trunk of up to 3 m wide and the branches are bunched up at the top with an umbrella-like canopy which symbolizes the upper world and the thirteen levels in which the Maya heaven was divided…
In Coromandel Peninsula, New Zealand, the Pohutukawa, a sacred Maori tree, is considered as a Christmas tree, photo David Berridge
Equally sacred for the Maoris in New Zealand, the Pohutukawa tree blooms at the beginning of the summer just in time for Christmas in the southern hemisphere. Its red flowers are fluffy and bright. This one was photographed in the Coromandel peninsula by architect David Berridge.
Oak trees in Fontaine Chaalis
Parisdiary wishes you a very Happy New Year and thanks you for your comments and enthusiastic reactions all year long.
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8 Comments on “Happy New Year 2024”
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Bonne année, chère Laure. Grâce à toi je découvre beaucoup de choses, et aujourd’hui ces deux arbres inconnus de moi. Grazie.
Happy New Year! Thank you for the wonderful newsletters, I really enjoyed to read them and hope to read more this year⭐️
Merci Chère Laure pour ces mardi…
Et tous mes très sincères vœux de bonne année nouvelle
Très tendrement
Lydie
Bonne année chère Laure et merci pour ces merveilleux rendez vous du
mardi qui me sont devenus indispensables et qui font mon admiration!
Je t’embrasse très affectueusement. Véronique
Best wishes from Palm Springs!!
Très bonne année chère Laure,
et merci pour cette lecture hebdomadaire toujours inspirante jamais complaisante.
En plus très bon exercice pour moi de vocabulaire anglophone.
Sincères amitiés
Happy New Year Laure – I love your invocation of trees as a source of optimism. Whether thinking of those who long ago planted or cared for the giants we see today or planting trees under whose shade others will sit, trees bring joy. We visited the 1,000 year old veteran Oaks at Blenheim this past summer, which your photo of Fontaine Chaalis reminds me of. Thank you for this inspiration!