....trees

Yogis,

There it goes again. That all too familiar sound of a chainsaw gearing up.  Appears a couple more trees must be coming down today. It is a sound that makes me sad.

We hear about the deforestation happening in the world.  We see the pictures and for a few moments we are angered. Who is allowing that to happen?  That shouldn’t be!  But then 10 minutes later we head off for car pool or yoga class. 

But when it starts to happen in your own neighborhood it begins to hit home……

My tree (well, one of my many trees)

As many of you already know…….I LOVE  trees.  When we moved into Cabin John almost 30 years ago it was like moving into the woods.  Every day when I would drive home from the hustle and bustle of the city, as soon as I turned onto my street I automatically turned off the radio because it sounded almost irreverent against the hush that would fall.  The way your voice automatically drops to a whisper when you enter sacred space. 

But it is changing.  Slowly, but noticeably and it makes me sad. 

As our thirst for bigger homes, garages and paved driveways continues to surge, the room left for trees shrinks considerably. The current trend for each new home built, is several trees must come down as they are ‘in the way’. What takes up their space is a nice new lawn which inevitably is visited every few weeks by a small sign warning that it has been treated. 

I truly am not pointing the finger at others because I too am at blame.  Although we didn’t remove any trees when building our home, 3 trees over time have succumbed to the trauma of the construction. An unintended consequence I am seeing all around town.  I sobbed when the chainsaw was started in my own backyard.  

Yes the unintended consequences are arriving.  Our street is experiencing some severe storm water runoff issues. My little section which was once like walking into the forest has ironically become the spot I can now connect most with the sky. And Friday night as I leaned out the window the sound of the beltway only ½ mile away was louder than I have ever heard it.

Our mighty oaks are coming down and decorative dogwoods and crape myrtle are going up.  But it is our large canopy trees that provide the sound barrier, filter and purify our air, hold the rain in its place, provide homes to the squirrels and birds, warm the house in the winter and provide our shade in the summer. We need them, and they need us.

There is no simple answer.  But as a start, what if we all began to plant oak trees in our yards?  Or maples?  Or beech?  Trees that will be here 50 years from now when our grandchildren and great grandchildren move into the neighborhood. Trees that provide the hush. 

I was interviewed by Bethesda magazine recently for an issue that talks to the uniqueness of each of our neighborhoods.  I told them that I always say ‘living in Cabin John is like living in the woods, but only 5 miles from the city.’  But I am wondering how long these words will remain true……….

Cabin John has a unique energy to it, in most part due to the river and our trees.  It’s that energy which drew most of us to settle here.  Calming, quiet, peaceful.  If we continue to change the physical landscape, our inner landscape won’t be far behind.

I love my trees,
SARAH