For many years, there was a huge maple tree across the street from my house. I could see the canopy of the tree from my bedroom window. Every morning for thirty or more years I awoke to see the tree in my window. I watched it bud out in the spring, watched the squirrels and birds scamper about during the warm months, enjoyed the bright yellow leaves and the fall, and the architecture of the twisted interlocking limbs and branches covered with snow during the winter. I felt such sadness when it was cut down. Because of its age, it had started to rot and was a safety risk to the houses all around it. I felt as if I had lost a close friend.
While many probably don’t even give trees a second thought, some get emotionally attached to trees. Years ago, my father, who is now deceased, loved trees. He grew all kinds, both small and large. Decades ago, he gave me a Sugar Maple. It has grown to be a large tree and in the fall the foliage turns a brilliant bright orange! Every time I look up at the tree, I think of my father’s love and his affection for trees.
We humans would probably not be alive on the planet if it wasn’t for trees and forests. One acre of mature trees absorbs the Carbon Dioxide C02 of a car driven 26,000 miles! They also absorb many polluting gases in their leaves and bark, making the air cleaner for us. This same acre of trees provides the oxygen for 18 people for an entire year.
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Trees planted around the house can lower the summer temperatures by 10 degrees, saving up to 50% on the electricity to run the AC. Trees can increase property values up to 15%. They canopy of leaves shields us from harmful cancer causing UVB rays. The roots of trees slow erosion of the soil, helps with flooding by acting like a sponge, and filters and purifies water.
The wood from trees provides building material and fuel. How can we forget about the food trees provide? Trees provide a number of various kinds of fruit, nuts, and some our most desirable foods like coffee and chocolate. My parent’s neighbors in Perry County started their collection of maple syrup every Feb. My mother always looked forward to the fresh maple syrup and their maple candy.
Trees provide beauty and a habitat for wildlife. For kids, a tree is a natural playground and an object of spiritual inspiration for adults. I can fondly remember as a kid the fun we had climbing and playing in our neighbor’s old apple tree. Studies have shown people recovering from serious illness recover more quickly when they can see trees outside their windows. Recent studies have shown there is less violence in neighborhoods planted with trees!
Poet Henry Cuyler Bunner (1856-1896) wrote a moving poem about the beauty and importance of trees. This poem was quoted in the old T.V. Series, Leave it to Beaver. The youngest brother, Beaver goes to his old house and digs up a tree he had been given and brings it to his new house. Of course, he gets into trouble, but he quotes this poem in class to express his love for his tree.
The Heart of the Tree
What does he plant who plants a tree?
He plants a friend of sun and sky;
The shaft of beauty, towering high;
He plants a home to heaven anigh;
For song and mother-croon of bird
In hushed and happy twilight heard-
The treble of heaven’s harmony-
These things he plants who plants a tree.
What does he plant who plants a tree?
He plants, in sap and leaf and wood,
In love of home and loyalty
And far-cast thought of civic good-
His blessings on the neighborhood,
Who in the hollow of His hand-
Holds all the growth of all our land-
A nation’s growth from sea to sea
Stirs in his heart who plants a tree.
Do something nice this fall and plant a tree!
