Every morning we go for a walk in the woods behind our house. As soon as we’ve climbed the hill, I’m struck with amazement that wild life extends all the way into the city. Here I walk under majestic beech trees as a guest in the wonder of nature. The birds welcome me. A graceful choir. Delightful. Sweet. Beautiful. Until it is suddenly interrupted by a sound that scratches my ear canals. I stand still and listen to the strange sound as I ponder how, in 1898, far-sighted merchants planted a forest on this piece of land and gave it as a gift to the city of Aalborg. It’s now 126 years since they put the little plants in the ground one by one. How far ahead were they thinking? Were they thinking about me and my children and grandchildren? Did they see me standing here in 2024, listening to the sound of one of the most amazing birds there is? A bird so clever and so far up the ladder that just one pair (luckily for us) has chased away a flock of thousands of rooks? A mythological bird. A bird that can speak across time and cultures. Yes, that’s the raven I’m listening to. It’s sitting in one of the few larch trees at the top. I think it’s the male, his voice is deep. In another larch tree is the nest. It must be the pair we know. If he has a notch in his wing, it’s him, but I can’t see him clearly as he starts circling above the treetops. I can hear cars and children in the schoolyard nearby. I can see the water tower and other man-made buildings. But it’s me, the human, who is visiting. This is not my forest. It’s the animals’ and plants’. The merchants must have thought about nature and other generations. They must have seen life ahead of them and wanted to honor it. Pass on the joy to others than themselves. Remind us of creation. Planting a tree is a religious act, I think to myself as I stand in what many call God’s cathedral. I think it’s so simple. Instead of talking about the climate crisis, we can do what the merchants here did 126 years ago: plant a tree that provides bird life so that our great-great-grandchildren can also hear the raven speak. Maybe it’s a thank you speech it’s giving this morning?
The column is published in a longer version in the Swedish newspaper, Sändaren, May 2024.
PS
And the other day we met a pair of cranes in Rold Forest. What gifts!
