The Lorax

I don't remember ever reading Dr. Seuss books, 'tho I am sure that I did.  I remember listening to them via a record that I had ... Horton, Star-Bellied Sneetches, Yertle, etc.  All classics, all with lessons to be learned, and not always just for kids.

Today, as I sit in my living room and watch out my window, I find myself remembering a story that Dr. Seuss wrote that I wasn't fond of as a child.  It didn't end well, as I remember, and had too many make-believe words for my taste.  It was darker than most of his stuff and, while I'm sure it was not his intent, it made me feel small and helpless.  It was the tale of the Lorax, who spoke for the trees.

You see, there is a tree in my neighbors yard.  It is large and tall and provides the birds and squirrlels with places to play and rest.  It provides shade on warmer days, isn't all that messy with leaves in the fall, and is  a nice harbinger of spring when the buds start to appear on the otherwise very bare branches.

Because this tree is very large and very tall, it has grown around various communication wires and power lines ... not in a dangerous way, but concerning enough that the Awesome Boyfriend and I watch, in Winter as snow and ice weigh things down, to see if we should break out flashlights.  Honestly, 'tho, except for those times, I haven't given this tree much notice.

And now the tree will be removed.  Today, in fact.  Probably within a few hours.  It is healthy and growing and isn't actively harming anything except "progress".  In time, the street we live on will be widened.  So telephone poles need to be relocated.  In doing so, the power company has decided this tree must go.

I'm not one for chaining myself to trees or shackling myself to fences around parks, etc.  I want to believe that the decision to remove this tree hasn't been done lightly.  I'm nearly sure that's the case.  Nearly.  And, honestly, it isn't MY tree to decide on anyway.  But still ...

The town where I was raised gets quite a bit of flack for being overly touchy-feely about being "green", recycling, being vegan, being PC, and being rather mamby-pamby about a LOT of things.  But I know that a tree of this size would receive about 15 minutes of discussion in a town council meeting where the pros and cons would be tossed about before any decisions were made on taking it down.  Maybe that's the case here, too.  Maybe this was decided long before I arrived.

I hope the Lorax was given his time.