Old Trees and Landscapes

There’s a street near my house that had a small woods of majestic, large trees hanging over the road. It provided cool shade even on the hottest summer day. Some trees were perhaps one hundred years old. For one block it felt like walking through Sherwood Forest with its thick trunks and dense canopy.

It used to be a space that made me linger and encouraged me to breathe deeply and get my bearings as I headed off to begin my day. That small woods made me happy.

The street has a different feel to it now. Half of the trees are gone. A number of them toppled over this winter from the weight of heavy snow. Several had to be trimmed back from power lines. One beautiful old tree keeps dropping large branches. I know that if left alone, the woods will regenerate itself. Young trees will grow and replace their elders.

The land we live on influences how we relate to other people and the care we take in our work.

A green landscape makes me feel connected to something alive. It nourishes me and encourages me to pass its peacefulness on to others.

Thankfully there are other places in town. When I stand on the bluffs of Grandview Drive, I’m inspired by the view high above the Illinois River and over miles of land that used to be prairie. If I squint, I can see the old grasslands and bison that used to roam free.

When I sit along the river and watch it flow by, I feel the massive power of the water as it surges on to the Mississippi River and the Gulf of Mexico a thousand miles away.

I drive into the countryside to see the gentle roll of the land, like long flowing waves way out on the ocean. The land has a close relationship with the sky, like cousins. Soon the green shoots of wheat, oats, and corn will appear and block my view of tree-lined creeks and the horizon.

On the way out, I went by a new shopping mall built where there used to be a patch of old prairie. Instead of seeing wildlife run through the grass, now there were scraps of discarded plastic bags. Instead of hearing birds chirp, there was the sound of hollow paper cups tumbling across dry asphalt.

Too often, developers flatten habitats and landscapes and move on, leaving dead earth and hard-shelled structures behind that push us further away from ourselves.

Nature creates new landscapes of beauty out of the old that draw us in.

As much as we deny it, we need the land to keep us human.