Friday, December 16, 2011

The End of a Cedar Tree

Two full-grown trees in front of the old boys' camp bathhouse got sawn down, for no reason except they might have been growing too near the electrical wires -- but there's been no electricity running through them for 30 years. For love of the trees I counted the rings: 54. The camp buildings, now abandoned, were erected in 1957. It's a perfect match. Clearly these trees were planted to screen the bathhouse doors, and kept growing although the camp closed in 1971.The camp and trees are my exact contemporaries. With God's help I will not be abandoned to the elements or cut down at 54.

2 comments:

gaye g.p said...

Such a loss, by such a deliberate act, is inexplicable! An outrage. I still grieve the loss of 7 of my trees, as old as these, which were tossed to their deaths when that EF4 roared through my neighborhood on Good Friday. Somehow it is easier to understand and forgive the forces of nature, as roughshod as they may be, then to comprehend the wanton ways of humans.

Pablo said...

My son cut down a tree and counted the rings: 23. The same age as he was at the time.