It felt very strange to be in Tokyo, huge city of millions of people. It felt almost like being on a different planet. And then when I visited this ancient forest on the edge of the city I instinctively felt I was stepping on the same earth I was familiar with and felt grounded for the first time while visiting this lovely foreign land.
Old growth forests are very precious. We have destroyed far too many of them here in Australia. It is most important we preserve what is left of them. At least the deciduous trees that have replaced them in many instances provide ground cover and nourishment for Mother Earth. In southern Australia at this time of the year in many beauty spots there are carpets of crunchy dry leaves. Even adults like myself are tempted to play on them and scrunch the leaves; and it is a special experience for children who love to play on the earth at any time.
Seanna Cnoic 