We All Need Somebody to Lean On

“Just call on me brother when you need a hand, we all need somebody to lean on. I just might have a problem that you’ll understand, we all need somebody to lean on...”

If the spruce and fir trees who live in the krummholz zone of the Adirondack mountains could sing, I think they might sing Lean On Me by Bill Withers.

In Summer it’s easygoing for these high alpine trees.  The problem is Winter’s extreme frigid wind and ice. Any trees left to weather this seasonal hardship alone will experience death or at least amputation of exposed branches.

The solution: find lots of friends to lean on!

What these lively boughs lack in stature they make up for in comradery. Their teamwork ensures survival and blankets the mountainside with a thick and vital mat of spruce and fir that for all intents and purposes behaves as a single organism.

The seasonal hardships that you and I face as human beings may be different than that which our high alpine spruce and fir neighbors face, but isn’t it true...we all need somebody to lean on...

(Krummholz Zone of Whiteface Mountain May 26, 2021)