Yes! This. Recently, lightning hit an old beautiful oak outside my office window, causing it to split. Tree was cut down. I stood there yesterday just staring at the empty spot, feeling this weird sad feeling! (A little embarrassed that I was feeling what I was feeling for a tree!) Your writing is validating. I feel for my friends in the CR area and my hometown of Madrid. It's just so different now.
Trees have become museum pieces. Singly planted. Singly admired.
I live among trees in a damaged redwood forest. Trees too open to hard sun. Too sparse from felling and disease. Underground, I believe, is a multigenerational memory of community. Above ground, it feels like walking on a graveyard.
You're so right that the balkanization of critical planetary issues is cause for concern. In a sense, they could all be lumped under "environmental justice. " Many, if not all folks who spend their time in nature, grow to understand the almost infinite connections of living and even non-living things. The Internet of the natural world, if you will. But we are only human, to coin a phrase. To take on the suffering of everyone and everything is to court madness. As I know you understand, so many of us are holding on by our cracked and frayed fingernails. Yet our fragile world, human and non-human, needs our engagement more than ever. But I don't have the answer. I don't know how to shift our focus from Netflix and TikTok to compassion and outreach. I suppose just being aware of something bigger than yourself (and I don't mean some kind of deity) is a first step.
Thank you, Lyz. I will read and re-read this truth.
Agree. Planting trees is a hopeful step but still just a "bandaid" in the systemic pattern of abusing our planet and it's people....in the name of creating wealth for a powerful few. 😥
I grew up in Marion in a house built in a former open field. No trees, no shade. I moved to DC and lived in neighborhoods with heavy tree canopies. It was so much better. Trees are so welcoming. Back in CR, I again bought a house in a neighborhood with a heavy tree canopy. I couldn't ask for more. Then, the derecho, which has already taken 7 125+ yr old oaks from my front yard, all of which were there when my house was built in 1922. My living room and office now get direct late day sun that used to be blocked. Both rooms are much warmer in the afternoon. More importantly, the neighborhood is less embracing, less comforting without the trees. I hate what I have lost but I am heartbroken over what the community has lost. We now plant trees again for our future generations, with hope that someday, we can get back to a pre-derecho state.
This essay so closely describes my sorrow for all beings that I can barely comment. UC Santa Barbara offered a brand new major the same year I enrolled there as an 18 yr old undergrad: 1970, Environmental Studies. I was fresh off the first Earth Day. FIFTY TWO years ago, humans knew where we were headed.
My exceptionally unexceptional life has been dedicated to understanding Earth’s systems, working to protect the integrity of those systems, and living as if natural systems matter. But my reach has been minuscule, limited to my own family, some friends and students, a few acres of riparian habitat, and some oak trees.
It’s pointless to mourn the past, but damn. We in the First World, mostly entitled whitefolks, really f**ked things up. We’ve taken and taken and taken. If ever there was a Come to Jesus time of reckoning, this is IT.
Yesterday in my California neighborhood it was 104 degrees. I live in a neighborhood with many beautiful old trees and am grateful for them every day. And every day I worry, little to no rain and fire danger almost all year now. If that’s not enough we’ve now been told we may be due for super storms that will wipe everything away. Thanks for this thoughtful piece.
Recently got into a stupid argument with a stupid right-wing man about climate change. "It's not that we don't believe," he said, "it's that we don't think it is as catastrophic as you all say." Ummmmmmmm.
Waterloo’s newest attraction, Lost Island, is really hurting for attendance for a few reasons, but the one that stands out the most to me is the complete lack of foliage. It’s just concrete and steel and rides and open air. And when I think of my favorite parks, there’s green to go with the construction, to make these artificial places feel welcoming and enjoyable. Whether it’s our neighborhoods or just Places We Go, trees make it better. I hope Cedar Rapids gets many of its trees back, because a treeless cityscape is never anything but depressing.
I feel so lucky to have spent my adult life in towns with lots of trees. And living in one of those towns through Hurricane Sandy made me understand and reflect on how having lots of trees around also makes you especially vulnerable to the elements. Those trees brought down power lines, crashed into houses, and blocked roads. The trees *are* the elements.
I get the impulse to pave over everything - its from fear. It probably feels controlled, planned, predictable, and safe. It reminds me a bit of Donald Trump preferring fast food.
I can't agree with you more. We humans need to be better stewards of our world and each other. I am reminded of Anne Gleasons' book, 'The Futilitarians'. Much food for thought.
Thank you so much for this. I often feel alone in my reverence for trees. Their sacredness transcends my ability to harness it. I struggled recently with a decision to remove a dead ash from my backyard. Even after its life had been drained, it provided shade for my house and yard and endless entertainment for my dogs in the form of a squirrel playground. But, the fierce winds that accompanied rainless storms had left ominous cracks in its trunk. I finally let the guys take it. My yard looks hot and baron without it. I feel a strong call to make some sort of art on the remaining stump as a tribute to its magnificence and gratitude for its contribution to my life and all who lived in my 150 year-old house before me.
My heart goes out to CR community. My daughter finally got a new roof a few months ago, the forest behind her house was decimated only two days after she bought the place. Her first home.
As a mountain biker in Iowa( yep, Iowa has some awesome dirt trail systems) I find freedom and therapy in our woodlands. I am in awe of the trail workers who have worked tirelessly in CR for two years and counting to restore, clear and help the woodlands heal. Similar storms and straight-line winds have ravaged the Northwoods this summer north of the cities. 😔
This essay really hit home and I am sharing. So grateful for your writing and willingness/courage to put your words out here.
For those of us who cannot or will not move beyond the binary, let's put it like this: what has been described here is yet another data point in wealth v accountability. We are all in this together, despite what Team Wealth's advance people tell us. We must find our grace within nature again, before it's too late and without waiting on the permission of our corporate overlords. They don't have our best interests in mind, not ours and not nature's. We can choose to do all the things -- replant trees, create fair access to health care and education, be more welcoming to all human beings and their needs. What are the other options...?
I fear too many readers still don't realize the damage CR suffered.
Of course, we had damage in Iowa City. Our yard alone lost six trees.
But when my wife and I made a trip to CR a couple of weeks later, we were unprepared for the devastation.
Block after block; whole neighborhoods seemed denuded.
Every house had piles of tree limbs lying in their parkways.
And now you remember the lack of response because no one called for one. The "we'll fly to the airport, make a speech. and leave" federal response. And Kim. Looking as hard and unconcerned as ever. Doing what she does best. Nothing.
Oh, thank you for this. I spent the afternoon in the hammock yesterday on the back patio in the abundant shade of our HUGE elm tree. When we bought back my husband's boyhood home in '94, we rented it out while we decided on our next move. Late that fall, our renters called us, horrified by the damage that had been done to all of the foliage and trees on the property. My husband's mother had told us that she would take care of the fall clean up and since we were 200 miles away we had agreed. Little did we know that she had a tree Nazi come in and TOP our gorgeous, big elm. We came to discover that she had an on-going war with Mother Nature and hated the seeds in the spring and the leaves in the fall. She systematically killed her own four elm trees that kept her western facing home cool in the summer. They gradually gave up after annual toppings and keeled over. Her house was like Hades in the summer. Karma.
We have spent since 1995 doing what we can to nurture our elm back to health through annual tree vitamin (or whatever it is) injections in the soil, being judiciously pruned and making sure it has the water it needs. It has rewarded us with the most beautiful shaded back yard which we enjoy every day. The tree Nazis still abound in our town and it saddens me every time I see a beheaded tree.
I'm happy that the tree planting has been funded and is happening.
One of your best columns in a while. I have no solutions to offer. Being a life long gardener and tree lover I feel sad when I see any trees removed, whether by man or nature. It is particularly sad that our governments can’t figure out how to truly help people in need after natural disasters and at the same time replant trees, repair eroded land, etc. “They” always seem to feel it’s a choice of one vs the other. It all goes together.
Yes! This. Recently, lightning hit an old beautiful oak outside my office window, causing it to split. Tree was cut down. I stood there yesterday just staring at the empty spot, feeling this weird sad feeling! (A little embarrassed that I was feeling what I was feeling for a tree!) Your writing is validating. I feel for my friends in the CR area and my hometown of Madrid. It's just so different now.
Trees have become museum pieces. Singly planted. Singly admired.
I live among trees in a damaged redwood forest. Trees too open to hard sun. Too sparse from felling and disease. Underground, I believe, is a multigenerational memory of community. Above ground, it feels like walking on a graveyard.
You're so right that the balkanization of critical planetary issues is cause for concern. In a sense, they could all be lumped under "environmental justice. " Many, if not all folks who spend their time in nature, grow to understand the almost infinite connections of living and even non-living things. The Internet of the natural world, if you will. But we are only human, to coin a phrase. To take on the suffering of everyone and everything is to court madness. As I know you understand, so many of us are holding on by our cracked and frayed fingernails. Yet our fragile world, human and non-human, needs our engagement more than ever. But I don't have the answer. I don't know how to shift our focus from Netflix and TikTok to compassion and outreach. I suppose just being aware of something bigger than yourself (and I don't mean some kind of deity) is a first step.
Thank you, Lyz. I will read and re-read this truth.
Agree. Planting trees is a hopeful step but still just a "bandaid" in the systemic pattern of abusing our planet and it's people....in the name of creating wealth for a powerful few. 😥
I grew up in Marion in a house built in a former open field. No trees, no shade. I moved to DC and lived in neighborhoods with heavy tree canopies. It was so much better. Trees are so welcoming. Back in CR, I again bought a house in a neighborhood with a heavy tree canopy. I couldn't ask for more. Then, the derecho, which has already taken 7 125+ yr old oaks from my front yard, all of which were there when my house was built in 1922. My living room and office now get direct late day sun that used to be blocked. Both rooms are much warmer in the afternoon. More importantly, the neighborhood is less embracing, less comforting without the trees. I hate what I have lost but I am heartbroken over what the community has lost. We now plant trees again for our future generations, with hope that someday, we can get back to a pre-derecho state.
This essay so closely describes my sorrow for all beings that I can barely comment. UC Santa Barbara offered a brand new major the same year I enrolled there as an 18 yr old undergrad: 1970, Environmental Studies. I was fresh off the first Earth Day. FIFTY TWO years ago, humans knew where we were headed.
My exceptionally unexceptional life has been dedicated to understanding Earth’s systems, working to protect the integrity of those systems, and living as if natural systems matter. But my reach has been minuscule, limited to my own family, some friends and students, a few acres of riparian habitat, and some oak trees.
It’s pointless to mourn the past, but damn. We in the First World, mostly entitled whitefolks, really f**ked things up. We’ve taken and taken and taken. If ever there was a Come to Jesus time of reckoning, this is IT.
Yesterday in my California neighborhood it was 104 degrees. I live in a neighborhood with many beautiful old trees and am grateful for them every day. And every day I worry, little to no rain and fire danger almost all year now. If that’s not enough we’ve now been told we may be due for super storms that will wipe everything away. Thanks for this thoughtful piece.
Recently got into a stupid argument with a stupid right-wing man about climate change. "It's not that we don't believe," he said, "it's that we don't think it is as catastrophic as you all say." Ummmmmmmm.
Waterloo’s newest attraction, Lost Island, is really hurting for attendance for a few reasons, but the one that stands out the most to me is the complete lack of foliage. It’s just concrete and steel and rides and open air. And when I think of my favorite parks, there’s green to go with the construction, to make these artificial places feel welcoming and enjoyable. Whether it’s our neighborhoods or just Places We Go, trees make it better. I hope Cedar Rapids gets many of its trees back, because a treeless cityscape is never anything but depressing.
I feel so lucky to have spent my adult life in towns with lots of trees. And living in one of those towns through Hurricane Sandy made me understand and reflect on how having lots of trees around also makes you especially vulnerable to the elements. Those trees brought down power lines, crashed into houses, and blocked roads. The trees *are* the elements.
I get the impulse to pave over everything - its from fear. It probably feels controlled, planned, predictable, and safe. It reminds me a bit of Donald Trump preferring fast food.
I can't agree with you more. We humans need to be better stewards of our world and each other. I am reminded of Anne Gleasons' book, 'The Futilitarians'. Much food for thought.
Thank you so much for this. I often feel alone in my reverence for trees. Their sacredness transcends my ability to harness it. I struggled recently with a decision to remove a dead ash from my backyard. Even after its life had been drained, it provided shade for my house and yard and endless entertainment for my dogs in the form of a squirrel playground. But, the fierce winds that accompanied rainless storms had left ominous cracks in its trunk. I finally let the guys take it. My yard looks hot and baron without it. I feel a strong call to make some sort of art on the remaining stump as a tribute to its magnificence and gratitude for its contribution to my life and all who lived in my 150 year-old house before me.
My heart goes out to CR community. My daughter finally got a new roof a few months ago, the forest behind her house was decimated only two days after she bought the place. Her first home.
As a mountain biker in Iowa( yep, Iowa has some awesome dirt trail systems) I find freedom and therapy in our woodlands. I am in awe of the trail workers who have worked tirelessly in CR for two years and counting to restore, clear and help the woodlands heal. Similar storms and straight-line winds have ravaged the Northwoods this summer north of the cities. 😔
This essay really hit home and I am sharing. So grateful for your writing and willingness/courage to put your words out here.
Never more timely, Lyz. Thank you.
For those of us who cannot or will not move beyond the binary, let's put it like this: what has been described here is yet another data point in wealth v accountability. We are all in this together, despite what Team Wealth's advance people tell us. We must find our grace within nature again, before it's too late and without waiting on the permission of our corporate overlords. They don't have our best interests in mind, not ours and not nature's. We can choose to do all the things -- replant trees, create fair access to health care and education, be more welcoming to all human beings and their needs. What are the other options...?
I fear too many readers still don't realize the damage CR suffered.
Of course, we had damage in Iowa City. Our yard alone lost six trees.
But when my wife and I made a trip to CR a couple of weeks later, we were unprepared for the devastation.
Block after block; whole neighborhoods seemed denuded.
Every house had piles of tree limbs lying in their parkways.
And now you remember the lack of response because no one called for one. The "we'll fly to the airport, make a speech. and leave" federal response. And Kim. Looking as hard and unconcerned as ever. Doing what she does best. Nothing.
Oh, thank you for this. I spent the afternoon in the hammock yesterday on the back patio in the abundant shade of our HUGE elm tree. When we bought back my husband's boyhood home in '94, we rented it out while we decided on our next move. Late that fall, our renters called us, horrified by the damage that had been done to all of the foliage and trees on the property. My husband's mother had told us that she would take care of the fall clean up and since we were 200 miles away we had agreed. Little did we know that she had a tree Nazi come in and TOP our gorgeous, big elm. We came to discover that she had an on-going war with Mother Nature and hated the seeds in the spring and the leaves in the fall. She systematically killed her own four elm trees that kept her western facing home cool in the summer. They gradually gave up after annual toppings and keeled over. Her house was like Hades in the summer. Karma.
We have spent since 1995 doing what we can to nurture our elm back to health through annual tree vitamin (or whatever it is) injections in the soil, being judiciously pruned and making sure it has the water it needs. It has rewarded us with the most beautiful shaded back yard which we enjoy every day. The tree Nazis still abound in our town and it saddens me every time I see a beheaded tree.
I'm happy that the tree planting has been funded and is happening.
One of your best columns in a while. I have no solutions to offer. Being a life long gardener and tree lover I feel sad when I see any trees removed, whether by man or nature. It is particularly sad that our governments can’t figure out how to truly help people in need after natural disasters and at the same time replant trees, repair eroded land, etc. “They” always seem to feel it’s a choice of one vs the other. It all goes together.