I woke up Sunday morning to a cardinal outside our bedroom window, sitting in the tree that grows in the hellstrip, the patch of no man’s land between the sidewalk and the street. There’s nothing unusual about seeing a cardinal in that tree, but this one was still at the moment I spotted him, interrupted in his busy fall to-do list. He stopped and stared at me and I back at him. Then he fluffed his feathers out in that way birds do, transforming themselves in an instant, and flew away.
1. I wish I could take credit for 'hellstrip,' but I read it somewhere else.
2. I forgot it was in Robin Hood, but of course it was. Iconic.
3. I sadly feel that you're right. I've done research about urban tree boards and urban tree management. There's a whole survey of trees in your town that you should have and then, obviously, goals you're working toward (more shade would be number one on my list). But it all seems rather haphazard. I've thought about going to tree board meetings, which are public, but then I think about how much more enjoyable it would be to lie on the couch and read. So. Maybe when I'm retired I'll be all up in the tree board.
I'm glad you wrote about the boy and the tree. Someone pointed out that corporations cut down entire forests and no one gets up in arms. (I don't agree. We do protest, but greed wins.) The boy was most likely acting out his feelings (rage? anger? needing to be heard about his own pain?) and I can't stop thinking about that. Trees do so much good in the world. And that tree was so visible. Will the boy be heard now? Given help/treatment he needs? Or will he simply be punished? I hope we hear more.
Thanks, Sandra. It's absolutely true that as sad as the act of this one boy is, it doesn't compare to global deforestation. But what if we cared about all those trees the same way we cared about this tree? And I have to believe that boy was in a lot of pain of some sort. I hope he does get some help.
Couple things:
1.) Love ‘hellstrip’!
2.) I audibly gasped when I heard the news. I knew that tree because of that (admittedly bad) Robin Hood movie from the 90s.
3.) Or town has no tree plan, other than the vague belief that trees are mildly bad, if the city’s actions are any indication.
1. I wish I could take credit for 'hellstrip,' but I read it somewhere else.
2. I forgot it was in Robin Hood, but of course it was. Iconic.
3. I sadly feel that you're right. I've done research about urban tree boards and urban tree management. There's a whole survey of trees in your town that you should have and then, obviously, goals you're working toward (more shade would be number one on my list). But it all seems rather haphazard. I've thought about going to tree board meetings, which are public, but then I think about how much more enjoyable it would be to lie on the couch and read. So. Maybe when I'm retired I'll be all up in the tree board.
I'm glad you wrote about the boy and the tree. Someone pointed out that corporations cut down entire forests and no one gets up in arms. (I don't agree. We do protest, but greed wins.) The boy was most likely acting out his feelings (rage? anger? needing to be heard about his own pain?) and I can't stop thinking about that. Trees do so much good in the world. And that tree was so visible. Will the boy be heard now? Given help/treatment he needs? Or will he simply be punished? I hope we hear more.
Thanks, Sandra. It's absolutely true that as sad as the act of this one boy is, it doesn't compare to global deforestation. But what if we cared about all those trees the same way we cared about this tree? And I have to believe that boy was in a lot of pain of some sort. I hope he does get some help.
Robyn- Truly enjoyed reading this!
Thanks, Denise!