I’m someone who needs help getting through winter. Despite my longing to hibernate until it’s over, daily walks are proving to be the remedy. It takes several minutes to don my layers and wrestle my feet into boots – more effort than you’d think worth it for a slow pace over the road and back, but this short pilgrimage matters. What I’m seeking is something I know I will miss when spring finally comes: the sight of sky through bare tree branches. There are two trees near my house, the old lime and a cracked white birch. I walk to one, then the other, then home again, just to gaze up through the dark sprawl of empty twigs.
Science tells me I’m not imagining things. Looking at a fractal pattern has been shown to reduce stress levels in humans by up to 60%, and that’s what a tree is: a pattern that repeats itself so that each small part ends up looking similar to the whole. This pattern is less obvious in summer, but beautifully stark in winter.
