Perhaps he would never have dared to raise his eyes, but that, though the piping was now hushed, the call and the summons seemed still dominant and imperious. He might not refuse, were Death himself waiting to strike him instantly, once he had looked with mortal eye on things rightly kept hidden. Trembling he obeyed, and raised his humble head; and then, in that utter clearness if the imminent dawn, while Nature, flushed with fullness of incredible colour, seemed to hold her breath for the event he looked in the very eyes of the Friend and Helper; saw the backward sweep of the curved horns, gleaming in the growing daylight, saw the stern, hooked nose between the kindly eyes that were looking down on them humorously, while the bearded mouth broke into a half-smile at the corners; saw the rippling muscles on the arm that lay across the broad chest, the long supple hand still holding the pan-pipes only just fallen away from the parted lips; saw the splendid curves of the shaggy limbs disposed in majestic ease on the sward; saw, last of all, nestling between his very hooves, sleeping soundly in entire peace and contentment, the little round, podgy, childish form of the baby otter. All this he saw, for one moment breathless and intense, vivid on the morning sky; and still, as he looked, he lived; and still, as he lived, he wondered.
— from The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame
I’ve had so many names. Old names that only the wind and the trees can pronounce. I am the mountain, the forest and the earth.
(From the film Pan’s Labyrinth, directed by Guillermo del Toro. And yes, I know that the Faun in the movie is not supposed to be Pan. But I love the movie, the character design, and this quote so much that I’m including them here anyway.)
Madrona trees (Arbutus unedo) are notoriously difficult to establish on purpose, but will establish themselves in unexpected places that appear inhospitable. Why is unclear, though it’s thought to have something to do with their mycelial networks.
This clump of madronas is growing on the rural acreage that my husband and I are tending–mostly by leaving it to itself right now, admittedly. The first time I saw it, I thought: Pan.
Wild Gods 
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