APPRECIATION: PINE CONES

Pine cones are tiny sculptures. They are solid, more permanent than flowers, and will be intact much longer than most people’s relationships. And like relationships, and people, and snowflakes, they are so individually different, even among cones of the same species. Compare a Doug Fir cone to a Sugar Pine or a Sequoia or Redwood or Spruce or Noble Fir.

There are many scientific and mythological stories that surround them. I’m thinking of the Native American myth about the Doug Fir and the mice. There is a fire. Mice keep running to different trees asking for protection. They keep getting turned away. Finally, the Douglas Fir says that the mice can hide in his cones. And they’re still there. Take a look. Or think about the Knobcone pine that needs fire in order for the seeds to be released. The cone is as solid as a rock and can protect the seeds for decades.

Pine cones represent a world of knowledge around me at all times that I am almost completely ignorant about. Pine cones remind me of mystery, of worlds that I love but don’t know or understand. I am embarrassed that I am not an experienced dendrologist. I signed up for a class at OSU but my forestry friend said it was a waste of time and he could just tell me as we walked around, so don’t bother. So I didn’t, but I should have.

They serve as a decent illustration of liking things despite what others think. They are a specific example, better than just saying nature or things that I find outside. They seem more alive than rocks, but much less alive than newts or frogs or skunks. They are a challenge to draw, and are so aesthetically exciting to me that if I was forced to get a tattoo I would be tempted by the pine cone.

I like pine cones as an illustration of liking things, as an example. And once you announce your allegiance to certain things you can be known for that thing. People have started to bring me pine cones, and there is a display on top of a bookshelf in class. One of my pine cones looks like it is covered with dragon fingernails, and another looks like a prehistoric fossil.

Pine cones are artistic, scientific, mysterious, and mythological. They are on the trees outside, on the ground beneath them, in my pockets, and for all of the reasons above, in my mind.