"Remembrance "
About three months ago I was inspired by a tree that had sprouted up near a shopping mall across from my apartment complex. Quite a tree -- reaching skyward with four tremendous trunks. Each one growing out into a massive canopy. Read my previous entry to find out more. Either way, I was inspired by this tree. Magnificent.
That tree died today.
Just up and split down the middle. Crack. Boom. Dead. Apparently it grew too much, and, alas, gravity took over from there. The tree management people had foreseen this event some time ago and had prolonged its life by drilling holes into it and attaching a cable around the trunks. Needless to say, it didn't work. Several tons and at least a century of life snapped those 1/2 inch steel cables, and with a crack like a gunshot, the tree toppled to the asphalt.
I had never seen a tree die before. Well, that's not true. I have seen the remains of long dead trees in the forest, and when I was a child I had watched my father cut several to heat our house in upstate New York. But I had never seen a tree just, well, die. On its own.
Did it give up? Just decide it was too tired of holding itself up after all these seasons of gravity pulling relentlessly on its branches? Did it try too hard? Over exert itself and finally realize with that sudden snap that it had grown just one inch too far, that it finally pushed itself over the limit? We can't ever know for sure.
After its death, the police came and roped off the area like a crime scene, and a couple of grounds men unceremoniously began to dismember the fallen giant as to reopen the parking lot entrance blockaded by the corpse. No funeral. No wake. Soon that tree will be mulch or firewood or compost in some landfill.
But I would like to hold a memorial. Just a moment of silence for a tree. A tree that cooled us with shade. Gave us air to breathe. A tree marked by lovers in spring. A tree that though often unnoticed, enriched the lives of the many people who lived nearby. And a tree that once inspired me.
So many times our lives are enriched by others whom we hardly notice until they are gone. Take a moment; remember to thank those that have made an impact on your life, no matter how small. Always be aware of the gifts and small moments of simple kindness that place an all too important smile upon your face. This life is short. You may not have that chance again. And, more importantly, remember this: it is that generosity, that kindness, that spirit of love that strengthen and feed the trunk of our humanity.
