To Walk Amongst the Trees: Collected Haiku

By Steve K. Bertrand

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• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Mar 31, 2022
• ISBN: 9781669817024

Steve K. Bertrand

For this pictorial history of Paine Field, Steve K. Bertrand has selected more than 200 images from the local community, historical societies, regional libraries, and state archives. He has traced the rich history of Paine Field from its earliest days to its present status as a bustling airport and commercial aviation center. These photographs provide a glimpse into the people and events that influenced this small community in the Pacific Northwest.

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Copyright © 2022 by Steve K. Bertrand.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

Front Cover Image by Steve Bertrand

Rev. date: 03/30/2022

Xlibris

844-714-8691

www.Xlibris.com

841358

For

the Forest Bathers

Time spent amongst trees is never wasted time.

-Katrina Mayer

Preface

To Walk Amongst The Trees

"I took a walk in the woods and came out taller

than the trees."             -Henry David Thoreau

To walk amongst the trees, to follow a forest path through old growth fir, hemlock, cedar, pine and spruce, to trod the forest floor amongst decaying leaves, bark and branches, where shrubs are thick, Oregon grape, salal, Broad fern, Indian plum, huckleberry, kinnickinnick, Raven silently perched in a redwood tree, such beauty, mystery, infinity, the hummings, buzzings, thrummings, chirpings of grasshopper, mosquito, Kinglets, bee, fragrance of forest, earthy scents – mist, mushroom, moss, woody debris, madrone, vine maple, witch hazel, Bearberry, honey, blueberry, Red flowering current, salmonberry. And, in the damp, dark places that sunlight never finds, there amongst the rank undergrowth, in the primitive recesses of mind, such life – snail, salamander, earthworm, beetle, horsefly. Such calmness, such peace, amongst green spaces, forested places, where sunlight filters through a canopy, and dances amongst the trees. How strong the heart beats. How high the spirt soars, like eagle circling in a bright, blue sky, such gratitude for wolf, coyote, fox, deer and bear. I notice hues in evergreens and deciduous trees. I’m mindful of Beargrass, wood sorrel, lupin, star flower, thimbleberry, hardwood, softwood, deadwood, new growth, furrowed bark of Douglas fir, Sword fern, bracken, nurse log, hollowed stump, raccoon, gray squirrel, salmon, hawk. Ah, flora and fauna, forest stream, sip of water, momentary rest, pine needles, lichen, spider’s web, Steller’s jay nest. I set aside the worries in my life, troubles, threats, anxieties, stop the measurement of time, and slowly stroll with little wants, other than – to walk amongst the trees.

Steve K. Bertrand

Hiking forest –

all the pathways brightened

by autumn leaves.

Leaves floating

on the pond

thinking they are goldfish.

Ah, the opossum –

America’s

only marsupial!

This morning –

a blanket of fog

atop Hungry Mountain.

Quieter & quieter,

the chirping of birds across

North America.

The artist said,

"Every old house I sketch has the hint

of a ghost in it."

Three years old –

a Bald eagle with yellow beak

& white feathers.

A flock

of Canada geese pressed against gray,

autumn sky.

Red-tailed hawk

spooks a flock of geese grazing

on Skagit Flats.

Two squirrels

scavenging amongst autumn leaves

for acorns.

Autumn –

an old man in wheelchair fishing

the Columbia River.

A flock of birds

split in half, then – find their way

together again.

See where crows

have replaced

the fallen maple leaves.

November –

last bud

on the red rose bush.

Between

here & there – the ever-flowing Hamma

Hamma River.

Auto wreck on the freeway