Recently I posted about a tree I was trying to save from being chopped down. A lady from Norway replied in disbelief, wondering why I was concerned over one tree. I first thought she was being insensitive. However, she posted a barren photo of the mountains where she lived, saying that the price of timber was high in her country and there were no rules to protect their forests. Lumber trucks whizzed by her house every day. In her photo, there was not a single tree left in view. She said there was no more life, and her family could no longer pick fresh mushrooms.
Her reply made me pause to reflect on the greediness of humans, a specie that I am sometimes ashamed to be a part of. I was concerned about one pine, which I helped save from the teeth of a chainsaw. But what about the thousands of trees in our world that have no one to fight for them?
It is difficult to comprehend a million stars, a million Covid-related deaths, or a million trees that were removed from a forest. But we can relate to our personal sun star, or a favorite aunt who died from Covid.
That is why I focus on one tree at a time.
A previous post, My Name is Apollo, touched many and annoyed others. The story calls out our wrongdoings. And although we cannot change the past we CAN influence others to be more responsible with the gift of trees that are given to us.
Photo of my old friend, Jasmine, who I continue to miss every time I stroll around the pond at Brookhollow Business Park in Santa Ana, CA.