[birds chirping]
[tranquil music]
[water trickling]
♪ ♪
[soft scraping]
♪ ♪
Reeves: This is a story of a man in Latvia
who lives among trees.
♪ ♪
Rihards' workshop is a treasure trove
of ancient woodland crafts.
[tapping]
♪ ♪
Rooted in the natural world,
he knows the forest's many secrets...
♪ ♪
How all life here gently ebbs and flows.
♪ ♪
Using only traditional tools,
he works to the slow and steady rhythm
of this world.
♪ ♪
Rihards only takes a tree in winter
before the new growth of spring.
♪ ♪
Since he was a boy, he's dreamt
about making a canoe from a single trunk.
♪ ♪
Some fellow woodsmen have gathered to help.
♪ ♪
They're reviving a centuries-old design
that's almost disappeared.
♪ ♪
He's so familiar with the tree's growth,
its grain.
It's like a conversation with a friend.
♪ ♪
Rihards learned these skills from his father
and passes them on to his son.
♪ ♪
Absorbed in his craft...
♪ ♪
Patient and focused.
♪ ♪
Rihards connects to a much slower time.
♪ ♪
A time that trees live on.
♪ ♪
[waves crashing softly]
♪ ♪
[birds chirping]
Trees exist on their own timescale.
♪ ♪
These California redwoods are over 2,000 years old...
♪ ♪
Descended from an ancient forest
which covered the entire coast
millions of years ago, long before we were here.
♪ ♪
Redwoods have weathered droughts, fires, and storms.
Almost ten times more genetically complex
than humans, they can adapt to survive.
♪ ♪
These trees are monuments to endurance,
standing the test of time.
♪ ♪
Living among trees
opens the path to working with wood.
[gentle music]
♪ ♪
[fire crackling]
♪ ♪
Rihards has left the trunk
for a week underwater to soften the wood.
♪ ♪
He's mastered an art with a beautiful name,
steam bending...
♪ ♪
Combining fire and water to sculpt the wood
and forever change its shape.
♪ ♪
He senses just how much pressure to apply...
♪ ♪
And how much heat
before the hull begins to split.
♪ ♪
Slowly, he coaxes the trunk to unfold.
♪ ♪
It takes just hours to mold the wood,
but months for it to set.
No machines...
just a skilled pair of hands conversing with the tree.
♪ ♪
Over time, we've come to understand
the language of trees.
Like us, trees like to keep in touch.
♪ ♪
In the Colorado Rockies,
these aspens are communicating with each other.
Above ground, they rise as individuals,
but below, they're all connected
to a vast, subterranean social network.
♪ ♪
A single web of fungi weaves in and out of their roots
and runs throughout the entire forest.
[woodpecker tapping]
Trees use it to send signals...
Share nutrients...
♪ ♪
And pass messages to each other.
♪ ♪
Mother trees nurture their saplings.
Healthy trees send extra food to the sick.
♪ ♪
Together, the forest works
as one for the good of all.
[soft music]
♪ ♪
Rihards has discovered the magic
stored in a tree's roots.
♪ ♪
He makes this tar from old pine trees.
At the end of their lives,
trees pump all of their resin into their roots.
♪ ♪
Rihards heats them up
to release the sticky, black gold
used to waterproof the canoe.
[blowtorch whooshing]
Tar is the essence of the forest
with its rich aroma and protective power.
♪ ♪
It's a parting gift to the woodsman.
He takes only what he needs.
The forest always provides.
♪ ♪
[birds chirping]
♪ ♪
The forest yields another gift
to anyone who spends time there.
♪ ♪
[birds cawing]
[indistinct chatter]
The Japanese call it shinrin-yoku.
Forest bathing.
♪ ♪
It's nature's remedy.
♪ ♪
As we walk among trees...
♪ ♪
We open up to them with all our senses.
They shower us with natural oils.
♪ ♪
Our heart rate slows.
Blood pressure falls.
♪ ♪
Trees naturally call upon us to slow down...
To stop and listen...
♪ ♪
To be in the moment.
♪ ♪
Trees take care of us
as they take care of their own.
This is the wisdom of trees.
♪ ♪
The life of a new boat begins.
An ancient tradition continues.
♪ ♪
Rihards' story is now written in wood...
Carried away by the water.
Living among trees.
♪ ♪