buying time and planting trees

on planting trees…

I spent Earth Day (Wednesday the 22 of April, 2008) planting trees. However, these carbon consuming machines were not your garden variety stick the shovel in the backyard and toss in a stick with some branches on it trees.  They were big plants; house sized trees that cost more than most cars and alter local weather. We’re talking trees that deserve a crane to plant them…

The root ball of the tree shown  is a 20 feet diameter laced artwork. Although I don’t know the age of the tree I would guess it to be at least 15 years old. And so this becomes a question of buying time.  Affecting the landscape with such size certainly provides a satisfaction of immediacy, but isn’t there something about measuring the struggling seed; about marking the kitchen wall against the marks of your sister? Since younger trees, particularly ones that haven’t been shocked by transplanting, grow much faster than larger and older trees I wonder if were not missing something by allowing ourselves to wait and watch something grow. 

Or maybe this is an inspiring testament to the resiliency of trees and a parallel perspective on our ability to uproot and re-establish in a new American soil… sending new feeder roots through channels supported by a culture of scientific solutions and a mix of proper medicines.

Behind either perspective is the simplicity of digging up the dirt and letting something grow inside it.  New and old laces drinking up an alphabet of elements and releasing something good to breathe.