I admit that I have a thing for trees. Their trunks and branches inspire me. The textures of their barks invite me to touch them. Their buds, spring leaves, and fall leaves beg me to pay attention to their cycles and colors. Their unseen roots reaching through the earth make me imagine a world underneath. I love their smells. I love their sounds and movements in the wind and rain. I love their colors in different lights. I love the shade they provide in hot and humid Mississippi summers.
This is the live oak in my front yard. It's beautiful old trunk that stretches and twists across our lawn is one of the main reasons that I bought this house. It sustained major tornado damage and power-line trimming by Entergy last April, and it had heavy growth, new growth, and dead limbs that needed cleaning up. Yesterday, the good folks of Northeast Tree Service trimmed it up and made it look like a new tree! Combined with the noon-day sunshine, it was glorious and hopeful seeing this old, damaged tree restored to new life.
New year. New life. New day. New president (soon). New projects. How hopeful this day feels.
4 comments:
I look forward to seeing the tree restored... I'm sure it is as grateful for you as you are for it!
I remember one evening in college, walking through the quadrangle and looking at the trees growing there. They were so tall and powerful, and for one remarkable moment, I had a sense of how deep their roots reached and how high their branches soared. They were incredibly alive in that moment.
I look forward to your words and pictures and projects! You are inspiring me to say and do more with my own blog...
I had a neighbor in West Jackson who ran from her house screaming to stop the power company's tree cutting service. They were going after an oak in the right-of-way. She won a brief argument and we awarded her the neighborhood's Tree Hugger of the Year award. I think the trees are what makes our neighborhoods inviting and invigorating.
We have three 80+ year old oak trees in our yard and I cringe when I hear that the utility company is making it's way around town. Fortunately, our trees tower way above the power lines so they only receive a "slight trim", but it makes me sad when I see other trees along our street that are butchered.
New day. New year. New president. Yes! We can!
Thanks for all of the comments! I have done battle with Bell South over this tree. I stopped them from doing major, major butchering. But, after the Tornado, when people in our neighborhood were without power for 10 days, it was hard to argue with anyone working for the power company. And, it had already been transformed so much by the storm that I lost the will to battle. I wanted my power back on.
Speaking of fighting for trees, how about "fighting with trees?" We watched "Prince Caspian" last night. The dancing trees, walking trees, and roots that snap the Telmarines in two are awesome! I think C.S. Lewis had a thing for trees, too.
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