Tree Mind

There are some trees that, like some people, look better with their clothes on. Winter tells all. The deciduous trees all along our path were fully exposed in the crisp winter air, and were telling lots of stories. Poplars like the one pictured here have a fairly confused nature to begin with. Or maybe it's better to say they don't waste excessive energy on creating symmetry. Add a little storm injury into the equation, or someone's attempt to limit the size of the tree, and you've got a tangled mess.

Although it is not a pleasant experience to pass by butchered trees -- tree after tree, mile after mile -- it is fascinating to study the trees as we travel along, to see how they have adapted and survived. If the train is traveling slowly enough, I can do forensics on the trees as we pass. In the less affluent areas, tree abuse is more common, though no particular income group is guiltless. Sometimes we pass areas of recent storm damage, and I can often tell if the breakage was from ice or wind or both. Other areas seem to be vulnerable to root rot. Occasionally we pass a park area where some really ace arborists must be employed, full of trees with impeccable histories of good care.

In some places there are trees I'd rather just see put out of their misery. I can guess about how many years ago a not very skillful person got up into the tops with a chainsaw to do damage that will never be erased as long as the tree is standing. But then, there are places along the way where people are probably grateful for any hint of shade in the summer, or for the winter winds to be slowed just a bit by their hacked up trees. It's not up to me that their top priority should be tree health, or the beauty of a tree manifesting its full potential.

But I must say, I have a hard time letting go of this issue. I do appreciate symmetry, whether in the forms of trees or buildings or rocks. And I do recognize that as a prejudice, at least in the case of trees.

When a tree by its own doing is not strongly symmetrical, I like to think about what the tree is trying to accomplish by taking the form it does. Trees have all different strategies, about how fast they grow, how much growth they shed, how they spread seed, when and where they germinate, how long they expect to live, how they react to damage, and so on. Sometimes deep symmetry is part of that strategy, and sometimes it's not. Poplars don't care so much.

And when the tree has been altered by hackers, there is an opportunity to admire nature's resilience even while squirming uncomfortably at the misshapen results.