Talking about distant experiences, ever dabble in Sanskrit, Sean? I had dandy fun one semester, trying to translate an Upanishad. Searching for the meaning of life in tomes, when all the time, there it was, in the trees! (Reminds me of the parable of the sage who found All in a grain of wheat)
That's what makes them so huggable.
They respond and regenerate and reach for the infinite, while it seems that often the best we humans can do is regurgitate.