Bird Droppings July 8, 2026

Did you know trees can talk?

“Did you know that trees talk? Well, they do. They talk to each other, and they’ll talk if you listen. Trouble is, white people don’t listen. They never learned to listen to the Indians, so I don’t suppose they’ll listen to other voices in nature. Tatanga Mani, Stoney tribe

            Most people would laugh at the comment that trees can talk. I thought it was a bit odd as I first read the quote from Tatanga Mani, or Walking Buffalo, a Stoney Indian from Canada who, after being educated in the modern world, never gave up his reverence and respect for nature. A friend posted a note like in The Lord of the Rings, which is what I thought of as I read earlier today. I have been by the cottonwoods beside the Indian cemetery at Fort Sill and stood looking across the plains listening. The rustling of the cottonwoods along the creek can provide a sense of communication unlike anything I can describe. It has been a few years since I last visited Fort Sill in Lawton, Oklahoma, but the memory lingers. This morning I went out before the sun came up and stood listening to the night. Pine needles create a sound unlike the leaves of many deciduous trees. Fading in the background, the crickets and tree frogs chirped along, keeping time with the slight breeze.

“For the Lakota, mountains, lakes, rivers, springs, valleys, and the woods were all in finished beauty. Winds, rain, snow, sunshine, day, night, and change of seasons were endlessly fascinating. Birds, insects, and animals filled the world with knowledge that defied the comprehension of man.” Chief Luther Standing Bear

            While I sit, I listen; my mind seems at ease, and trouble wanders off. Around me, the sounds of nature, and when the sunlight finally makes its way through the dark, the awareness of all around me. Butterflies and flowers are all about me, each with a specific purpose, and each often lives a very delicate balance in our hectic world. Many people pay no mind to a butterfly that survives only on a specific host plant, much like the Monarch, which feeds only on milkweed and related species. Monarchs also need a very select forest to winter in as part of its natural cycle. In Mexico, timbering is wiping out the wintering grounds for northern Monarchs, and soon we may see a decline in Monarch populations.

“Everything was possessed of personality, only differing from us in form. Knowledge was inherent in all things. The world was a library, and its books were the stones, leaves, grass, brooks, and the birds and animals that shared, alike with us, the storms and blessings of earth. We learned to do what only the student of nature learns: to feel beauty. We never railed at the storms, the furious winds, and the biting frosts and snows. To do so intensifies human futility, so whatever came we adjusted ourselves, by more effort and energy if necessary, but without complaint.” Chief Luther Standing Bear

            I have written many times about the sacredness of life and all about us. Perhaps in greed we lose this sense of nature. Over the past few years, I have learned to be more attentive to the world around me and, in turn, to people as well. I spent a large part of yesterday talking with a friend about how I see all as a puzzle, a great jigsaw puzzle with each piece interconnected to all the others to form a picture of life. Some people hear my puzzle analogy and do not understand. It has been some time since I last listened to a great speaker talk about how we each influence at least 10 people every day. He was referring to the fact that, whether positively or negatively, every person we come into contact with is affected by what we do. The example we set is what is seen and carried away. Life is a constant interconnection of people, places, things, and ideas.

“What is life? It is the flash of a firefly in the night. It is the breath of a buffalo in the wintertime. It is the little shadow which runs across the grass and loses itself in the sunset.” Crowfoot, Blackfoot warrior and orator

            It has been some time since walking across the fields near my old home. I could hear the buffalo snort and paw the ground, agitated by my presence, letting me know I must move on. Many times as a child, I caught fireflies and filled a mason jar to light my bedroom at night with their glow. There is a point of understanding and reverence that we lose in our greed and selfishness. We tend to rush by and miss so much the world has to offer. I am sitting, writing, listening, and wondering as I finish today. My dear friends, please keep all in harm’s way on your minds and in your hearts and always give thanks. Namaste.

My family and friends, I do not say this lightly,

Mitakuye Oyasin

(We are all related)

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