Oooh! Transdermal nutrition! I was just swimming in a lake yesterday (very early in the year for me) and felt as though the water was nourishing me somehow. I have heard natural water carries nature's information to us, that's why it feels so good, but perhaps there is a bit of your lizard-like creatures in us all. I know we are touched by the trees, no need to envy them, I let them touch me.
I used to swim in the harbour in Copenhagen. When I come home I will do that again (all the illness put a stop to that.) I think like Thales that water is the original element.
As for the trees I think the protagonist wants to be another place, to be another altogether. I am more on your vibe.