Blue Walk
acrylic on 11 x 14 wood panel

“The healing power of Aspens according to Shoshone wisdom come from its ‘friendly’ energy. A person who is feeling unsettled, confused, frustrated, in mental anguish can hug an Aspen tree with their back against the trunk, or simply lay down in an Aspen clone, or go for a walk in an Aspen grove to absorb the emotionally positive energy.

In scientific terms, it’s all about water. Aspens move water in a major way constantly. They elevate water up from the ground and into the air surrounding the clone. The slightest breeze activates the transpired water molecules into a negatively charged polar ionization which affects human emotions by increasing serotonin levels, reversing depression and calming the sympathetic nervous system thus stimulating a para-sympathetic cascade. The turbulence of the trebling leaves creates a flood of negative ionization surrounding the trees much in the same way that the seashore creates a flood of negative ionization through the turbulence of crashing waves of surf against the shoreline, immersing the inter-tidal zone in negatively charged ions. The coastal tribes knew of the healing effects of the Oceanside for both emotional and physical healing. The blue of the ocean and the blue of the sky at the tree top level are somehow involved in this – but it remains a mystery.”

Words by John Mionczynski, prompted by a dream I had about this particular stretch of Aspens in Sinks Canyon, Wyoming, and these big beaming streams of blue shapes that were pouring out of them. Just something about those blue, blue, blues, and the memory of walking that path and feeling so at peace in a very special place.