The Old Ones of the Forest: What stories they could tell us!--but would we listen? Or would we be in too much of a hurry?

SWFeral Loc: SWNM

What stories they could tell us!--but would we listen? Or would we be in too much of a hurry?

(Download)

luvmypets Loc: Born & raised Texan living in Fayetteville NC

I really like the first 2. I had a huge tree in my yard that was taken down by hurricane Floyd in the middle of the night. I heard it go down and ran out into the yard (and storm). I was heartbroken!! I've never felt the same about the backyard. There are other trees but that tree would have really had some stories to tell.

Thanks for sharing your adventures.

Dodie

SWFeral Loc: SWNM

luvmypets wrote:

I really like the first 2. I had a huge tree in my yard that was taken down by hurricane Floyd in the middle of the night. I heard it go down and ran out into the yard (and storm). I was heartbroken!! I've never felt the same about the backyard. There are other trees but that tree would have really had some stories to tell.

Thanks for sharing your adventures.

Dodie

That would've broken my heart too. I can't even stand it when trees that NEED to come down have to go. Call me a treehugger: you'd be right.

rick_n_wv Loc: Charleston WV

SWFeral wrote:

That would've broken my heart too. I can't even stand it when trees that NEED to come down have to go. Call me a treehugger: you'd be right.

We have some massive old oaks on the edge of our yard (about 2 acres). It is my wife's old home place. She remembers having a swing in one as a youngster (and we aren't young). Her dad said a biologist told him they they may be over 400 years old. There are a few still left but lighting has gotten some the last few years.

SWFeral Loc: SWNM

rick_n_wv wrote:

We have some massive old oaks on the edge of our yard (about 2 acres). It is my wife's old home place. She remembers having a swing in one as a youngster (and we aren't young). Her dad said a biologist told him they they may be over 400 years old. There are a few still left but lighting has gotten some the last few years.

Well, you're younger than those trees! It's amazing to me that they can still be alive after four centuries. I have no idea how old the trees are in my forest; after all it is in New Mexico, so I can't boast about trees that rival the size of those in other parts of the country, or world for that matter. But they're tough!

SWFeral Loc: SWNM

I'm responding to my own post; that's pretty desperate!--but I just Googled the Alligator Juniper tree (pictured in #2 and #3) and learned that they can live to be 500 years old. That's 400+ years older than our state!

Retired CPO Loc: Travel full time in an RV

I think we share the same sentiment for trees. Yours might be a little more intense than mine. I love trees, especially big, old trees. But when they come down, I love the wood that they produce as well. I've planted trees on every piece of property I have ever owned. Fruit trees, nut trees, oaks, walnuts, maples. Mostly from seeds that I have sprouted and nurtured myself. In Washington State I planted a pair of Redwood trees that I grew from seed that I collected in a California Redwood forest. The last time I visited them they were 25 years old and close to 30 feet tall. In a thousand years they will be the biggest living things on the Kitsap Peninsula in Western Washington.

SWFeral Loc: SWNM

Retired CPO wrote:

I think we share the same sentiment for trees. You... (show quote)

That's pretty cool. My sentiment is perhaps more intense because I live on a small, 50 by 100-foot lot and yes, the trees on it are ones I've planted (except for a shaggy old juniper in the front yard that became infested with bark beetles, probably due to drought which all my too-late watering couldn't reverse). But what makes me passionate about living trees is watching so much old-growth forest vanish to fire. Not to mention the devastating effect that two major wildfires had on our trail system: an estimated 90% of the trails were lost, simply gone. Even if you wanted to, you couldn't find 'em under all the downed trees. I guess that's why I post so many photos of the places I find lovely still.

Retired CPO Loc: Travel full time in an RV

I understand completely. But if you take the same long term view that the trees do(?) if that's possible with a short lived species like humans, I think it's easier to deal with loss that really isn't loss but just change.

Carolina Wings Loc: Flew from North Carolina to Pennsylvania

SWFeral wrote:

What stories they could tell us!--but would we listen? Or would we be in too much of a hurry?

Nice set...I love old trees!

Ched49 Loc: Pittsburgh, Pa.

When a tree falls in a forest and nobody is around, does it make a sound? Revised version> When a man speaks in a forest and there isn't a woman around to hear him, is he still wrong?

DeanS Loc: Capital City area of North Carolina

👍👍👍

SWFeral Loc: SWNM

Carolina Wings wrote:

Nice set...I love old trees!

Thank you. The older I get, the more I identify with old trees. But they're better looking.

SWFeral Loc: SWNM

Ched49 wrote:

When a tree falls in a forest and nobody is around, does it make a sound? Revised version> When a man speaks in a forest and there isn't a woman around to hear him, is he still wrong?

The answer to that is a resounding "Yes!" That's a funny joke.

SWFeral Loc: SWNM

DeanS wrote:

👍👍👍

Thanks!