Trees aren't necessarily something we pay attention to every day. For most of us, they are probably one of the last items on our minds as we go about our busy modern lives. We know we enjoy having them in our cities or parks. We pay some attention when the words 'sustainability' and the 'environment' are thrown around: we are mildly alarmed and wonder whether we should be cutting down quite that many trees down in Brazilian rainforests. We are aware they are vital: in high school science and farther back into grade school we learned that we breathe with the trees in a symbiotic relationship.
Slow down. Is that really all there is to our trees? They are certainly useful and vital. They provide the raw material for all sorts of items necessary to industry. Especially in Canada, where various raw natural materials drive a huge part of our economy, it is easy to think of trees in purely economic terms. In Alberta, it is even easier; some of us our adamantly against the industry that damages huge expanses of forest, and others see it as a necessary sacrifice.
In some manner or other, the trees we depend on, or clear away, help us drive our lives ever faster as we continue to fill up our days with task upon task that allows us to be more productive, so that we can create more products that we can then work more to afford to buy and consume. Ad infinitum, we repeat the process in a never-ending cycle. Trees become a means to an ever more consumptive end, as we try to keep speed with the fast-paced society of our own making in order to gain some better standard of living that never seems to be quite in reach.
But maybe there is more to trees than this. If we stopped to even look at the trees in our own backyards, maybe we would learn a few lessons. Possibly those lessons may even address some of the overwhelming ‘bigger than just myself’problems of economy and environment and a society whose fast pace is outrunning itself into the ground. Trees are really quite beautiful; we miss them most when they are not around. I have worked before in a greenhouse and always enjoyed the beauty of plants and flowers and gardening. But it was not until I discovered the practice of Aboriculture (the maintenance and care of individual trees for the health, structure, safety, and aesthetics of the trees) that I took the time to really think about what it meant to have trees around us. To pay attention to the trees that I bike past every day.
If we do not take the time to appreciate the beauty of what we already have, we may lose it. But if we did take the time to appreciate it, maybe it would mean less of what we don’t actually need. Those products that we don’t really need to buy, that stress our lives to the breaking point, that create the need for that car, so we can purchase that new widget that will help us do everything more efficiently. And then maybe we’ll have time to relax: but, oh wait, look at the problems we’ve created developing those widgets. I guess we’ll have to fix them first. Maybe if we just spent the time in the first place to sit out back and enjoy the trees and the sun and the birds we wouldn’t be constantly driving ourselves and our societies into the ground. At least, it might be a start. Maybe we don’t need quite as many of those products as we thought we did.
So perhaps it’s time to appreciate the real value of trees. The value that allows us to sit back and think about what we really do value. To clean up the backyard, clean up our cities and make them a beautiful and pleasant place to rest, instead of go, go, go. Rake out the leaves, plant the flowers, and trim up the scraggly spruce you never really noticed before, aside from when its needles were getting into your gutters. Ask an arborist for help: they know what it means to take care of your trees. Sit back with your favourite beverage and take the time to slow down without your new expensive mobile device; leave it somewhere inside where it’s not going to bother your relaxing. Let’s appreciate the beauty of our trees.
**By the way: if you’re interested in making your trees look even prettier (yes, it's definitely possible...a little pruning and shaping goes a long way) you can check out how just one of the many local Canadian businesses who are passionate about trees go about their work: http://albertaarborists.com/
Slow down. Is that really all there is to our trees? They are certainly useful and vital. They provide the raw material for all sorts of items necessary to industry. Especially in Canada, where various raw natural materials drive a huge part of our economy, it is easy to think of trees in purely economic terms. In Alberta, it is even easier; some of us our adamantly against the industry that damages huge expanses of forest, and others see it as a necessary sacrifice.
In some manner or other, the trees we depend on, or clear away, help us drive our lives ever faster as we continue to fill up our days with task upon task that allows us to be more productive, so that we can create more products that we can then work more to afford to buy and consume. Ad infinitum, we repeat the process in a never-ending cycle. Trees become a means to an ever more consumptive end, as we try to keep speed with the fast-paced society of our own making in order to gain some better standard of living that never seems to be quite in reach.
But maybe there is more to trees than this. If we stopped to even look at the trees in our own backyards, maybe we would learn a few lessons. Possibly those lessons may even address some of the overwhelming ‘bigger than just myself’problems of economy and environment and a society whose fast pace is outrunning itself into the ground. Trees are really quite beautiful; we miss them most when they are not around. I have worked before in a greenhouse and always enjoyed the beauty of plants and flowers and gardening. But it was not until I discovered the practice of Aboriculture (the maintenance and care of individual trees for the health, structure, safety, and aesthetics of the trees) that I took the time to really think about what it meant to have trees around us. To pay attention to the trees that I bike past every day.
If we do not take the time to appreciate the beauty of what we already have, we may lose it. But if we did take the time to appreciate it, maybe it would mean less of what we don’t actually need. Those products that we don’t really need to buy, that stress our lives to the breaking point, that create the need for that car, so we can purchase that new widget that will help us do everything more efficiently. And then maybe we’ll have time to relax: but, oh wait, look at the problems we’ve created developing those widgets. I guess we’ll have to fix them first. Maybe if we just spent the time in the first place to sit out back and enjoy the trees and the sun and the birds we wouldn’t be constantly driving ourselves and our societies into the ground. At least, it might be a start. Maybe we don’t need quite as many of those products as we thought we did.
So perhaps it’s time to appreciate the real value of trees. The value that allows us to sit back and think about what we really do value. To clean up the backyard, clean up our cities and make them a beautiful and pleasant place to rest, instead of go, go, go. Rake out the leaves, plant the flowers, and trim up the scraggly spruce you never really noticed before, aside from when its needles were getting into your gutters. Ask an arborist for help: they know what it means to take care of your trees. Sit back with your favourite beverage and take the time to slow down without your new expensive mobile device; leave it somewhere inside where it’s not going to bother your relaxing. Let’s appreciate the beauty of our trees.
**By the way: if you’re interested in making your trees look even prettier (yes, it's definitely possible...a little pruning and shaping goes a long way) you can check out how just one of the many local Canadian businesses who are passionate about trees go about their work: http://albertaarborists.com/
